A guide to filing taxes for Canadians who have no idea what they’re doing
Disorganized people usually do these things wrong during tax season and it can cost them hundreds if not thousands of dollars. They wait for every slip before starting (and don’t have any idea what to look for), mix personal and business expenses together so it’s a mess, ignore CRA mail (digital and physical), forget medical receipts and other things that are deductible, miss the RRSP cut-off (March 2), and file on April 29 at 11:59 p.m. or later, missing the deadline.
Deep breath. This is your guide to avoiding making these mistakes, even if your finances are a mess. Most Canadians receive a refund, btw, which is another incentive to get this tax-filing business done.
Create one tax home for everything
This is the most important step; creating one place where everything tax related can live. Set up a digital folder on Google drive or whatever program you want. If you have a spouse, grant them shared access so you can both add to the folder. Now, start moving your tax slips into the digital folder. By all means, if you think you’d like to make sub folders for income, charity, tuition, home, investments, medical, etc., fill your boots. But for now, one folder will work and can be a dumping ground for the files.
Some documents are still sent by mail. When they arrive, start by immediately taking an image of them with your phone and uploading that image to your digital folder. Store the paper copy in a physical folder/envelope/Ziploc bag and label it “TAXES. DO NOT THROW OUT.”
If you have a business, create a separate folder for your business dealings and start separating things.
Get access to your CRA My Account
Create, or log into, your Canada Revenue Agency My Account. This is critical because the CRA already has many of your tax information slips. Once logged in, go to Tax Information Slips and you’ll find T4s (job income), T5s (bank interest/investments), T4A (contract work, scholarships), RRSP contribution receipts, tuition slips (T2202) and more. Download everything into your tax folder!
The 30-minute tax paper sweep
Time to gather up missing receipts, documents and deductions. You may want to set a 30-minute timer on your phone as motivation. Walk around your home and search these places for tax-type receipts and documents; wallet, pharmacy bag, filing cabinet, junk drawer and paper pile on your desk. Next, open your email inbox and search: “receipt,” “invoice,” “donation,” “tax.” Pull up dentist emails, download anything from your education and/or tuition portal. If you have rent receipts or copies of rent cheques, grab those. Download any relevant docs from your investment or banking app. If you deduct home expenses, perhaps as a self-employed person, gather your property tax bill, utilities and other home expenses related to your work. Everything you find goes into your tax folder.
Get familiar with what actually helps reduce taxes in Canada
When it comes to taxes, knowledge is power — and money. Most Canadians miss tax savings because they don’t know what counts the most. Here’s a quick cheat sheet, but your financial planner will have a better scoop on the best way to manage your taxes given your unique situation.
You must report all income — T4 employment, freelance, Uber driving, DoorDash delivering, private tutoring, bank interest, investment gains, rental income, even cash-based side hustles.
Major deductions and credits people often forget are RRSP contributions, medical expenses after a certain threshold of spending (and these include prescriptions), dental work, physiotherapy, glasses/contacts, therapy (psychologist), orthodontics and sometimes travel for treatment. Required remote work and associated home-office expenses (the CRA has clear rules for this), tuition, professional fees, union dues, donations and sometimes rent-related deductions are among others.
If you’re just plain bad with numbers, get some help with filing
It’s OK to hire a tax professional to help you. That might be just the thing to save time and the headache of filing, and maybe even amount to a larger refund. Once you’ve agreed to their engagement, you can share your tax folder with them, and it’s over to them to prepare the filing. They’ll summarize taxes owing or due to you, key findings, your new RRSP available contribution room and even some future opportunities to save.
If you’re comfortable with DIY, now that you’ve organized your tax folder, you can use a certified Canadian software like Wealthsimple Tax or TurboTax Canada. Some of these programs can auto-import from CRA and you can upload any other documents directly. You can typically file within an hour, and anticipate your refund via direct deposit within a few weeks. If you owe money, that will also be clear and you can start making a plan to pay it.
Because forms and receipts come in at various times, you’ll need to keep checking for them. Pick a day each week and take 15 minutes to open banking apps, download any new tax-looking documents and drop them into the tax folder — repeat until you’ve filed your taxes on time. The 2025 tax-filing season officially kicks off Monday, when NETFILE, the CRA’s secure electronic filing service, reopens.
This article was originally published in The Star. Lesley-Anne Scorgie is a Toronto-based personal finance columnist and a freelance contributing columnist for the Star.
