I’m doing my ’08 taxes and find this great glitch ripping graduates off tons each year. If you write off the interest paid on your student loans AND use your tuition carry forward, you don’t get credit for the former. The calculation on ‘Sched. 11-tuition amounts’ doesn’t take into account you will be claiming the interest on your student loans (Sched. 1 – line 319), which makes you use more of your carry-forward money than you should. I called Revenue Canada, explained, waited on hold forever, and then was giving a BS answere to submit the reciept in a different year when there was no carry-forward left. Bet none of the automated software has this figured in.
—scrooge mcdick
This article appears in Feb 26 – Mar 4, 2009.
It’s not a BS answer. It’s there to keep it less complicated. Here’s a tip, there’s only so much you can claim each year, so use your tuition or student loan interest. No tricks, no hidden agenda. You’re just looking for one. If you find it that difficult to do your taxes, take them someone who does it for a living and they’ll actually use only what you need to. I think if you’re paying your student loans, and you’re using tuition carry-forward all on your taxes, you’re probably over using them anyways. Again, take them to an expert. That’s what they’re there for.
Use computer programme Ufile or QuickTax and then use different scenarios to test what is best to claim.
You can use Ufile for free because you only pay when you are ready to file by Netfile. $16 for one return is the cost at Ufile. this year I finally gave up on Quicktax after several years because they don’t have a phone number and insist you use email to ask questions.
And Ufile is 100% Canadian and I found it easier to use. Saves sending all that paper to RevCan
and your refund will be in your bank account within 7 days.
And, No I don’t work for them !!!
HR Block charge for every damn piece of paper you take to them.
I tried to fill out the paper version of the return, first time in about 6 years and realised how difficult and confusing it must be to the average Joe/Josephine.
elctronic filing through a programme does all the thinking for you and you just fill in the boxes.
Good luck to everyone.
I’m with Joeblow, I’ve used Quicktax for a couple of years and it’s made me aware of tax credits I never knew I was entitled to. It does all the math for you
I almost got bit by this…. best to take it to a tax[wo]man until a year out of school when it’s a little simpler and straightforward.
Dr Fever: so I should claim either my tuition OR my old student loan interest but not both? I want to maximize my refund. I overpay $50 on every paycheque so I’m already getting around $1800 back, but I want to get as much as I can for my new car fund. 🙂
NW–You can, but you need to be careful. It’s most likely that one or the other maximizes your return anyways. I understand it may be a pain, take your taxes to a professional, I’m talking a CGA, not those numb-skulls at H&R Block. A CGA will charge you more, but if it’s just a tax preparation, it’ll only be 20 bucks more than H&R will charge and it’ll be done correctly. Not to mention too, they’ll find better ways to save you money on taxes. Also, you’re probably better off putting that $50 a mo. into an RSP of some sort. It’ll do the same thing in the long run, and you’re saving for a house, car, and retirement all in one.
hate to disagree with a Dr Fever but the fact remains a CGA cannot do a better job than Ufile or Quicktax unless you run a business, have investments and complex relationships. Even then they have more advanced programmes for such filers. Just go to the Ufile.ca website and get stared at no cost. It walks you through the whole return and you can try and claim the tuition and loan interest and it will tell you if you can or can’t. As you alter the input it automatically changes the amount of refund/owed.
A bargain not to be missed.
If you have all the info it will take about 30 minutes. You need a code number to file through Netfile and your local tax office will give you one, details on their website. No need to send all the paperwork and you can file in the wee hours of the night. I have to say the RevCan people are very helpful when you are a first time Netfile user; very polite and professional.
The 2 programmes are fool proof, except they do not detect if you are lying !!
One year, I forgot to put a standardized credit on my tax form (the days when you used paper). They caught the mistake in my favour. So the tax (wo)man isn’t all evil. The one year when I owed an amout, they were very easy to work with to make a payment plan.
Strangely enough, Tax law actually favours the citizen. You’re right JB, Ufile is great if you only have a set of T-4’s and a T2022. If you’ve got a bunch of different investments generating capital gains, interest, etc. not so much. Also, it’s only a piece of software. CGA’s won’t miss a credit, or make a miscalculation. Also, unlike our friends at H&R, they’re responsible if they do make a mistake.
I agree Dr Fever. HR Block is for suckers who want to get fast cash for their refund. Good point about responsibility for a mistake. As a side note I once had to call Quicktax cause there was a problem uploading the file to RevCan and I called the toll free number and I just new I had an Indian call centre despite their best efforts at avoiding the question. Took ages to get a so called supervisor who knew no more than the first person and knew nothing about the questions I posed. The next year I spoke to
someone in Canada and a supervisor and told them if they ever went back to using an Indian call center I would can them. Besides if I want to speak to Indians, Koreans or whatever there are plenty at Revenue Canada and they can answer any question !