in CRA, Income Tax, Turbotax

Yes, it’s that time of the year, where the Tax man is beefing up their Helpline, RRSP vendors are out for your last buck, and financial bloggers like me give you useful tax tips, in Canada, it is Tax Time!

This is the season when folks like Mark over at the Blunt Bean Counter earn their money, and I start getting odd e-mails about whether you can claim your dog as a dependent (the simple answer is NO! you cannot).

Tax Time

How better to celebrate this festive season than a Turbotax (on-line) giveaway. What is Turbotax on-line? Here is a helpful blurb about the software:

With TurboTax Online or ImpôtRapide en ligne, you prep your taxes and pay at the end, when you’re happy with the result and ready to NETFILE. 

As this is Canada, I like to stick with the concept that contest winners need to answer a skill testing question, or have to do something (I don’t give stuff away for free, just ask my kids).

This year we have a simple question that, you must answer in the comments of this article, by February  6th to be considered for this free software (I am giving 3 codes away).

Question: The stupidest thing I ever left off my tax return was _____________
(fill in the blank)

The winner will be chosen (at random) from the entries that qualify (i.e. you can’t just put in, “GIVE ME THE  SOFTWARE” and be considered).

NB: You must supply a valid e-mail address or your entry will not qualify.

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originally published on January 27, 2015 { 41 comments }

• darci paice January 31, 2016, 12:34 PM

  I forgot to include dental expenses and they were huge

  Reply
• darci paice January 31, 2016, 12:33 PM

  I left off dental expenses not realizing they were considered medical expenses.

  Reply
• Robert Champion February 5, 2015, 11:04 AM

  Last year I left the Disability Tax Credit Certificate for my son off of my tax return. My wife’s income is now higher than mine (a wonderful thing!) so I want to claim the tax credit on her return. But then I could not Netfile because the certificate is in my name. I ‘d already submitted my return, so it couldn’t go back and change it. I ended up having submit her return by snail mail!!!

  Reply
• pete February 4, 2015, 7:38 AM

  charitable donations and medical receipts usually because they dont send slips at the end of the year at the same time as my other slips.

  Reply
• andrea amy February 4, 2015, 1:57 AM

  The stupidest thing I ever left off my tax return was tuition! I forgot to carry it over. Three years in a row!

  Reply
• Kim February 2, 2015, 2:58 PM

  My T2202A’s for tuition used to always include a small charitable donation that was rolled into my University fees. I would routinely forget about this and to this day, couldn’t tell you if I had gone back and accounted for all of them on my tax returns at some point. That is given that I was receiving these things for over 8 years.

  Reply
• Chris Brugman February 2, 2015, 12:30 PM

  If I have ever forgot something I haven’t realized it yet! Could be dangerous 😉

  Used TurboTax last year for the 1st time. It was very easy. I recommend it.

  Reply
• Paul G February 2, 2015, 12:08 AM

  I once left out a number (6) of Norbert’s Gambit-related transactions, even though the net result was pretty close to zero (20$ capital loss)… getting a letter 3 years later telling me to own up, just before I was scheduled for a months vacation, was no fun at all.

  Reply
  • bigcajunman February 2, 2015, 5:36 AM

    Yikes!!

    Reply
• Mike McCabe January 31, 2015, 5:16 PM

  I forgot to add my wifes denture expenses.

  Reply
• SueSueper January 31, 2015, 12:16 PM

  Claiming new tax credits.

  Reply
• Rochelle January 30, 2015, 8:51 PM

  I seem to forget something different every year…. Capital losses, charitable contributions, tuition expenses, luckily these items can be carried over, however I am probably not be too strategic in maximizing my returns. Thank you for this opportunity.

  Reply
• Paul Osborn January 30, 2015, 10:37 AM

  The stupidest thing I ever left off my tax return was all my Renovation costs.

  Reply
• Heather January 30, 2015, 8:58 AM

  Dividend income. I misplaced the T3 slip, but of course CRA caught it! I made a request that they send me copies of all my T3 and T5 slips to verify, I later found the “missing” tax slip in a pile of papers on my desk. Oops!

  Reply
  • bigcajunman January 30, 2015, 9:21 AM

    Hello CRA, um, well I kind of forgot something….

    Reply
• SUMMER PLEWES January 29, 2015, 9:09 AM

  Ok. Phil’s answer of “my opinion” is by far the best lol.

  The stupidest thing I ever left off my tax return was my medical bills (prescriptions etc ) . Uggh. They add up and I forget to keep them and put them in.

  Reply
  • bigcajunman January 29, 2015, 12:06 PM

    Is there a statute of limitations on medical claims? Can you only claim from the past year?

    Reply
  • Phil January 29, 2015, 2:12 PM

    Thank-you for adding a smile to my day with that comment SP :D. – Cheers

    Reply
• Glogirl January 28, 2015, 8:36 PM

  The stupidest thing I ever left off my tax return was the interest I made from a bank account. It was only cents and I felt guilty about it so called the revenue agency and they said that if it made a difference of $2 in my taxes either way (ie. I have to pay or they owe me) that it wouldn’t matter.

  Reply
• Phil January 28, 2015, 7:06 PM

  The stupidest thing I ever left off my tax return was my opinion… My opinion that taxes are really annoying, and the forms can be overly complicated for no reason. Last year was the first time I e-filed, and to be honest I miss the detail hand calculations… 😛 I wonder if I should do them by hand again this year? maybe i’ll have you decide for me – Cheers!

  Reply
  • bigcajunman January 28, 2015, 7:42 PM

    Anything can and will happen on this wild and wooly web site 🐑

    Reply
• Jay January 28, 2015, 3:38 PM

  “tuition credits”

  My wife went back to school to upgrade to Masters. I thought I could claim most of the credits, but she needed to claim some first then give me remainder. After I figured it out I neglected to go back to my own return. Oh well, they carry forward.

  Reply
  • bigcajunman January 28, 2015, 4:52 PM

    True, but a good confession no doubt. 🎓

    Reply
• John S January 28, 2015, 2:20 PM

  My kids exercise activities…

  Reply
• Brock January 28, 2015, 9:12 AM

  Nothing major, but I always seem to forget the Safety Deposit box fee!

  Reply
  • bigcajunman January 28, 2015, 9:14 AM

    Luckily you don’t have to worry about that any more, as it is no longer a valid deduction… oh dear… 😐

    Reply
• igra January 27, 2015, 6:01 PM

  Capital losses. To carry forward and use in future years.

  Reply
  • bigcajunman January 27, 2015, 6:14 PM

    Always important to remember those.

    Reply
• B January 27, 2015, 5:09 PM

  Many years ago when I joined my employer’s RRSP program (which included matching contributions), I was only claiming my personal RRSP contributions and not including the matching contributions. I even had to go through the extra effort to calculate this because I was sure that the tax forms sent by GWL were wrong!

  Reply
• Jonnie January 27, 2015, 4:44 PM

  My medical expenses. I usually don’t have enough to worry about, but one year I needed to take some extremely expensive meds and even after insurance, I had to pay $1200 every three weeks for a few months. I also needed some extensive dental work that same year and I forgot to claim any of it!

  Reply
  • bigcajunman January 27, 2015, 4:55 PM

    Don’t forget those! 🏥

    Reply
• Erin January 27, 2015, 1:20 PM

  … my honorarium for a council I volunteer on – had to pay back the tax man in December, NOT the month for extra payments!

  Reply
  • bigcajunman January 27, 2015, 1:41 PM

    Very true, very true….

    Reply
• Bernie January 27, 2015, 12:36 PM

  Many years ago after a divorce I forgot to enter Support Payments Made in line 230 even though I entered the amount in Allowable Deduction in line 220. Three weeks later I got a letter from CRA stating I owed a substantial amount instead of sending me the large refund I was expecting. Instead of querying me to see if I made a mistake they branded me as a “monster” who failed to pay child support. This simple, yet embarrassing, mistake took several months and letters from my ex-wife and me before it was rectified. Had I used a tax software program to fill out my return all of this would have been avoided!

  Reply
  • bigcajunman January 27, 2015, 1:03 PM

    Your honesty is appreciated. 👍

    Reply
• Scott January 27, 2015, 11:50 AM

  My own RRSP contributions! One year we were so concentrated on the Spousal RRSP, that I forgot my own personal RRSP slips. I was able to carry them forward the next year, but still didn’t like that small tax hit!

  Reply
  • bigcajunman January 27, 2015, 11:59 AM

    Oops… 💸

    Reply
• Lyne January 27, 2015, 8:34 AM

  … all my medical expenses. I was so used to not being able to use them that the one year my income was much lower, I just didn’t put them in.

  Reply
  • bigcajunman January 27, 2015, 8:57 AM

    Ouch! 🏥

    Reply
• Neil Martin January 27, 2015, 8:28 AM

  “My vow of perpetual poverty” !!!!

  Reply
  • bigcajunman January 27, 2015, 8:33 AM

    Hmmm…. now there is one I forgot… Brother Big Cajun Man (trapist monk)

    Reply

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