Tax filling gives sleepless nights and heartburn to many people. Canadian authorities are aware of this fact and they have streamlined the process making it very easy for everyone to grasp the basics and file returns on their own.
Who are required to file taxes?
The majority of the Canadians are supposed to file tax returns for the income earned by them in the previous year. People who owe tax to the government must file a return or your earning requires you to make contributions to Canadian Pension plan. There are various other criteria in which you may be required to file tax. Non-resident or international individuals who have earned money in Canada in previous financial year are required to file tax return.
Important Dates
The Canadian taxation period runs from January to December, and generally people are required to file for taxes on or before April 30. For instance, for income earned from January 2011 to December 2011, the tax should be filed by April 30, 2012. Business people or individuals whose spouse run a business or self-employed people are required to file tax return by June 15.
People who are not able to pay tax by the due date, will be required to pay penalties and interest to the Canada Revenue Agency. The interest starts from May, compound interest is charged on the amount not paid by you. The interest rate is prescribed by the government. The penalty for late filling for 2011 Tax Returns is 5% of the balance amount. Apart from this you are required to pay an additional one percent for each full month the payment is late.
Gathering Documents and Information
Before you file your tax returns, make sure you have all the relevant information and documents related to tax-return. The documents include T4 slips, social insurance plans, and other tax information slips given to you by the employer. All these documents are necessary to tell the CRA and you, the amount of money earned and how much tax is applicable, it also includes information on other income earned from being self-employed. There are many by which you can reduce your tax liability. It is, therefore, necessary to keep track of the receipts which assist you in reducing tax. Some familiar deductions are provided by Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) and Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSP).
How to prepare for tax returns?
You get detailed information from tax package on how you can fill out the forms and how you can calculate your tax owing. In case you are too scared or don’t have enough knowledge and just don’t want to make a mess of this delicate matter, seek help from professional Accountants Mississauga. They will fill the form for you and do all the related stuff for a nominal charge. You can also get help from easy to use tax software and other programs available online for tax filing. By making use of any of this assistance, the whole process of tax filing will become really easy for you.
Prepare and File Tax Returns in Brampton