Your four-step guide to be ready for the Canadian tax deadline!

Published in

Taxback.com

4 min readApr 13, 2021

The Canadian 30 April tax deadline is quickly approaching!

If you file your tax return past the deadline you may face fines and penalties!

To help you ensure you file on time and are fully tax compliant we have put together a list of four steps you should take when preparing for the Canadian tax deadline!

1. File early

First of all, we recommend you file as early as possible. This avoids the typical tax deadline stress when your filing close to the deadline!

If you’re owed a tax refund in Canada, the sooner you file, the sooner you will get your refund!

File your Canadian tax return today with Taxback.com!

2. Keep your documents and receipts safe!

It is important to keep any important documents and receipts organized in a safe place!

After all, the Canadian lifestyle can be very expensive!

Fortunately, the tax office allows workers to deduct some of their expenses and reduce their tax bill!

These expenses include work-related expenses, medical costs, tuition fees or interest paid on a student loan.

To claim these work-related expenses in Canada, you need a form T2200 signed by your employer.

You must also provide documents that prove you have incurred these work expenses including receipts, employment contract, invoices, a list of any itemized tools, copies of your bank statement and your contract of employment.

You should keep the important documents and receipts in a safe place so you have proof of your expenses when filing your tax return!

You will need certain documents when filing your tax return including:

Your income documents
Your Social Insurance Number (SIN)

Social Insurance Number (SIN)

This is a nine-digit number that you must have in order to work in Canada and access the government’s programs and benefits.

You must have your SIN before your start working in Canada and you can obtain it from Service Canada.

However, it’s possible that you received income other than employment from Canada and you do not have a SIN.

If you did not apply for your SIN and you have earned income in Canada, you may apply for your ITN (Individual Tax Number) after you leave Canada,

To apply for an ITN, you must complete Form T1261, Application for a Canada Revenue Agency Individual Tax Number (ITN) for Non-Residents in order to file your tax return.

Taxback.com can help you with your ITN application, just register here.

Income documents

If you worked in Canada, you should receive your T4 slip by the end of February.

If you work for more than one employer, you will need a T4 slip for each job.

Your bank/investment broker will provide you with T3 or T5 slips if you have interest or investment earnings.

If you received other types of income from Canada like scholarships, fees or commissions you should receive a T4A slip from the payer.

If you misplace or lose these documents, Taxback.com can track them down for you for a small fee!

As a student in Canada, to claim or transfer your tuition fees for future years or to a parent, you will need a:

Form T2202
Form Relev8- if you studied in Quebec
Certificate of enrolment and tuition for a federal tax credit

Form T2202 is issued from your educational institution according to the payment for the tax year.

Even if you do not have income during the year and you paid tuition fees in Canada you still can file a tax return in Canada and claim the tuition fee credit in future.

As a student in Canada, if you have paid interest on a student loan you should contact the bank for a statement which details the amount of interest paid during the tax year.

Bank statements that show repayments made are not eligible documents as you can only claim the interest.

You must keep the documents for expenses you claimed on your income tax return for 6 years after you filed the tax return just in case the taxman comes calling

3. Determine your residency status

In order to fully comply with Canadian tax regulations, you must file under the correct Canadian tax residency status.

Most working holiday makers in Canada are considered non-residents for tax purposes.

You are a non-resident in Canada for tax purposes if:

You stay in Canada for less than 183 days in the tax year or you are living temporarily in Canada
You live in another country and you are not considered a resident of Canada
Don’t have significant residential ties in Canada or you have stronger residential ties in another country

What are significant ties in Canada?
If you have any of the following in Canada, you have significant ties in Canada: