The Blueprint Blog
Expert Canadian Tax Tips for Parents
Check out these Canadian tax tips from Certified General Accountant, Marilyn Benninger.
Whether you like it or not, tax season is upon us. Marilyn Benninger, Certified General Accountant (CGA) and tax expert representing Canadian tax software giant, UFile, provides busy parents with tips for filing taxes:
- Does your child love hockey, soccer, baseball AND swimming? Parents can claim up to $500 for children activities aimed at keeping fit.
- Tax filing is a “family affair”. If you are married and/or have dependants, prepare the returns for yourself, your spouse and dependants at the same time. Only then can you (or your software) accurately prepare your tax returns and find the deductions, credits and transfers that can get you a better tax refund.
- Two plus two makes five? Little wonder that the most frequent mistakes the Canada Revenue Agency finds on tax returns prepared by hand are due to mathematical error. To avoid such errors, use quality tax software.
- Are you taking care of a parent aged over 65? If so, you may be able to claim the “caregiver amount” on your tax return for each parent living with you who is infirm. To do so, your parent need not be “Disabled” under the Tax Act but they must be dependent on you.
- Working from home can mean substantial tax savings. When you have a home office that is clearly set apart from the rest your home and you have no office space dedicated to you by your employer, you may claim home office expenses such as telephone, equipment and electricity and heat according to the space dedicated to your office.
Canadian Tax Tips
Do you have any tips for filing taxes that aren’t mentioned above? We’d love to hear them! We’d also be interested to learn how you do your taxes: do you file them on your own, use Canadian tax software, or hire a pro to take care of them for you?
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