Monthly Archives: April 2016

Did you file yet ?

Posted on April 28, 2016

The tax season is coming to an end. The deadline is May 2^nd and here is why you should never miss the deadline:

The CRA charges interest and late filing penalties to taxpayers who owe money to CRA on their taxes at the end of the year. So filing late means paying lots of extra money to the taxman just for being lazy.
The CRA does not pay any interest on the refund it owes you. So file your taxes at the earliest and put “your” money to good use. You can use your refunds for paying off debts or invest it for future savings.
If you qualify for receiving benefits like HST credit, Ontario Trillium benefit or the Canada child benefit , it is in your interest to file on time and and ensure that your benefit payments are not delayed

A lot of tax payers struggle until the last moment because of missing slips. Professionals at Softron tax are authorized to access the information slips from the Canada Revenue Agency.

So Do not wait for:

Missing T4 slips from your employers
Missing RRSP contribution receipts
Missing T3 or T5 slips from your financial institutions

So what should you bring to your tax consultant when filing your taxes?

Medical expense receipts
Moving expenses claims
Donation receipts
Public transit passes or presto usage reports
Rent receipts
Receipts for money paid for Arts or fitness/sports activities for your children
Documents relating to purchase of a new home in the last year

Just bring what you wish to claim and leave the rest to us! File today to avoid any potential financial or legal problems later.

Let’s do it right! Let’s do it now

The passing away of a loved one brings immense emotional stress and taxes are the last thing on the minds of family and friends at such a time. However, taxes for the deceased individuals have to be filed and depending on the estate plan of the deceased individual, filing taxes can be a simple matter or a very complicated one.

First Step:

In an event of death, the first step is to report the death to Canada Revenue Agency, Service Canada for discontinuing pensions and all financial institutions. The executor should obtain the copy of Last Will. A death certificate should be obtained from the Funeral Director and sent to the Canada Revenue Agency.

Filing the Final Tax Return:

The assets of an individual are deemed disposed at the time of death. This may create large capital gains and therefore huge tax liabilities at death if proper estate planning was not done during the lifetime of the deceased. Also getting the relevant paperwork and T slips to determine the income of the deceased can be tedious in some cases. The best solution to these problems is to get the services of an expert who specializes in estate taxes. Softron tax for example has a great team of experts specializing in this area and also offer a course on estate planning and trust returns.

Estate Taxes

All the assets of a deceased are rolled over into an estate at the time of death until they are distributed to the beneficiaries by the trustee of the estate. The Last Will of the deceased may also instruct to keep some assets in the estate for a long period of time. The whole process takes a long time and any income generated by the estate during this time should be reported by filing Trust Returns. Trust Returns are way more sophisticated than normal taxes and efficient tax planning can save a lot of tax dollars for the family of deceased.

Plan today to Avoid Tax troubles in the future

Tax Experts at Softron Tax are capable of handling the most complicated estate returns but what we do even better is guiding are clients to develop an efficient estate plan. If you have a well designed Last Will, it will be the biggest gift that you can leave for your family and friends. The legal procedures are getting complicated by the day and it is critical for all Canadian taxpayers to have a Will in place.

You can visit a Softron location today to file taxes for your loved ones who passed away and also discuss an estate plan with us that will suit you best.

Gen-Y Taxes: Tax planning leads to financial planning

Posted on April 10, 2016

If you still haven’t thought about filing your 2015 taxes the time is just about right. Millennials in Canada have a lot to worry about: Student debt, saving for an emergency fund, planning further education and the ultimate dream of buying a house.

You will be surprised to know that planning your taxes efficiently can help you out in achieving our long-term and short-term financial goals. Here are a few things that can help Millennials plan their taxes and finances efficiently

RRSPs: RRSP contributions can be Gen-Y’s best friend. RRSP is not just for retirement savings. RRSP accounts can also be used to save for further education under the Lifelong Learning Plan or buying a house under the Home Buyer’s Plan. HBP and LLP present an amazing opportunity for Millennials to save for future goals and get the tax deductions on their savings at the same time. It may be noted that getting the maximum benefit from these plans can be complicated and should be done under the guidance of a professional tax accountant like professionals at Softron Tax

Student loan repayment: Repaying student loans sucks! However, you can claim the interest paid on student loan when filing your taxes.

Tuition Credit: If you filed your taxes and claimed your tuition receipts during the years you were in school, there’s a good chance that you can save big on your taxes now when you have taxable income. If you did not claim your tuition receipts, rush to a Softron Tax Office today to figure out how you can rectify the situation.

The key to maximizing your benefit is efficient, customized and smart tax planning. What might be a great tax plan for you may turn out to be a disaster for someone else. Therefore, it is critical that you talk to a tax professional today and plan your taxes in a way that will benefit you the most.

As we say, let’s do it right !