Begginer Question: Filing back taxes?

[*trish*]

Really amateur question, but I know almost nothing about the Canadian tax system.

I haven't worried much about filing taxes the last few years, because I have been a student and worked odd jobs, earning less than < $3000 a year. One year I got it together and filed taxes, mostly because my part time job handed me a T-4 and I didn't know what to do with it I think that was for the 2005 tax year

So now I'm hopelessly behind, and have to gather what I can for my various jobs for 2004, 2006 & 2007. Other than that it is mostly school related stuff which is easy to obtain.

My main question is: Is there some agent/provider who would be better suited for filing back taxes from a few years, or would it be easier/much cheaper to try and figure it out and mail it all in myself?

thanks,

(Oh, and this wasn't all terribly illegal, was it? will I go to jail? (j/k))

[JiffyPB]

Going to somewhere like H&R Block to file taxes this year might be best, they will walk you through everything and you can ask them all the questions you want along the way.

That being said, based on what you made, you won't be in any trouble. I'm fairly certain that, as long as you don't *owe* more money to the government (and earning less than $3000 you won't owe them anything, they will give your taxes mostly back, guarenteed), the Canadian government is fairly uncaring when you file. You *should* file every year anyways, if only to sign up for the GST rebate checks that you qualify for. Those 3+ years of not filing means you very likely missed out on ~$1000 from the government (Free money!). File every year, after catching up this year you can file online for free if your income is less than $25,000 (I believe) by using something like Quicktax's online service, and not buying the software.

[TopTaxGuy]

If you did not owe taxes then you are not required to file. There are benefits to filing even if you don’t need to.

I have a couple of artiles that can help a little: When Are Tax Returns Due in Canada? (http://www.taxresource.ca/rates_stats/taxfilingtimelines.html) And Why Should I File My Canadian Income Tax Return? (http://www.taxresource.ca/rates_stats/whyfile.html)

Given your situation, you could easily do your taxes yourself or have H&R do it.

[cmackie]

Because your income was lower than the basic personal amount, by filing each of those back tax returns you should qualify for a provincial tax credit and return any taxes you paid. Even if you claim 0 income and 0 taxes, the provincial credit should net you a return of around $100 each year. Additionally, you might qualify for a GST refund (not sure how it works for past years though).

If you have a bit of time, I'd say just get the forms for those years and fill it out yourself. There would only be a few lines you need to complete so it wouldn't take long. It might be a bit quicker to get them prepared by a tax professional, but they will charge you for it.

Here's a link to general tax packages (http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/formspubs/t1general/allyears-e.html) dating back to 1985.

[dutchca]

The only thing you have cost yourself by not filing is money.....GST ccredit, Sales tax credit, refunded tax, potentially overpaid CPP and EI, establishing Tuition carryforwards.....now paying the Devil (H&R sucks _ock)to do your taxes.

Pony up and at least figure out how to file yourself.....

If you do use H&R _ock - make sure you take advantage of their refund anticipation loan service - it's the best deal out there.....

[ghostryder]

My main question is: Is there some agent/provider who would be better suited for filing back taxes from a few years, or would it be easier/much cheaper to try and figure it out and mail it all in myself?


Once you have all your info together and since you income level was low, why not contact the

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/individuals/volunteer/menu-e.html

[Piccolo]

If you did not owe taxes then you are not required to file. There are benefits to filing even if you don’t need to.

I have a couple of artiles that can help a little: When Are Tax Returns Due in Canada? (http://www.taxresource.ca/rates_stats/taxfilingtimelines.html) And Why Should I File My Canadian Income Tax Return? (http://www.taxresource.ca/rates_stats/whyfile.html)

Given your situation, you could easily do your taxes yourself or have H&R do it.

You are always required to file by Apr 30th (the sights given above have some good info), but will not be penalized unless you owe.

Don't let taxes scare you. Just take the time to do some research. As someone has suggested, maybe go to a professional to help you sort this out and help guide you for next year.

[*trish*]

Thanks for all the help!

Unfortunately I did not realise that I would miss out on the GST rebate by not filing each year - I had wrongly assumed that all refunds would apply when I eventually filed. Now I will never do that again :)

Does Revenue Canada provide any help in understanding basic tax mechanisms? Like an office I could go to?

Oh, nevermind -- It looks like Ghostryder already gave me the answer! thanks very much!

[jeeva86]

I was in the exact same position as you around a year back, but by reading through numerous tax threads and taxtips.ca I think I've gotten very familiar with it all. As well as asking questions on here. So feel free to try any of them out. This year I'll be filing mine and parents' tax returns. :lol:

Plus, if you're in post-secondary school, they usually have students doing your returns, what you can do is volunteer for this. You'll probably learn alot. But at the same time, you'll be mostly dealing with students so the complexity won't be too much.

[Octavius]

I was in the exact same position as you around a year back, but by reading through numerous tax threads and taxtips.ca I think I've gotten very familiar with it all. As well as asking questions on here. So feel free to try any of them out. This year I'll be filing mine and parents' tax returns. :lol:

Plus, if you're in post-secondary school, they usually have students doing your returns, what you can do is volunteer for this. You'll probably learn alot. But at the same time, you'll be mostly dealing with students so the complexity won't be too much.

Not always the case. Last year I had 7 T4's , 3 T3's a T5, charitable receipts, tuition credits, bus passes and an RRSP slip.

I did it myself for the first time last year. Got all my money back and it didn't cost me a penny to file since I did it on ufile.ca (full time students get to file for free)

http://www.ufile.ca/home/cfs.asp

You can plug in stuff and try it out as much as you want. It's a good learning experience and they give plenty of helpful tips as well.

[Azxster]

No worries... go on UFile and file a tax return for all the years you have missed (since 16?).

Why should you file?

You can claim a GST tax credit, if you are the age of 19+, but you need to file a T1-ADJ
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/t1-adj/README.html

You can claim the Ontario Sales Credit, if you are the age of 16+

Not too sure about CPP/EI overpayment, but other than that, you should have no issues since you did not owe money to the government.

[The Great Raj!]

I also filed my tax this year as my first time, i have a question:

I used Studio Tax 2007 and clicked on Netfile after entering all the information, now do i need to mail out my T4s, T2202A and T5 somewhere? or just clicking on netfile is enough?

If someone can answer that, it would be great. Thanks!

[Hairball]

I also filed my tax this year as my first time, i have a question:

I used Studio Tax 2007 and clicked on Netfile after entering all the information, now do i need to mail out my T4s, T2202A and T5 somewhere? or just clicking on netfile is enough?

If someone can answer that, it would be great. Thanks!

You don't need to mail anything in, however you have to keep all the slips and forms and whatnot somewhere at home in case you get audited.

[The Great Raj!]

You don't need to mail anything in, however you have to keep all the slips and forms and whatnot somewhere at home in case you get audited.

thanks Hairball!!

[bobbycat]

does OP not qualify for *back* gst tax credit when she files her
2004,2005,and 2006 tax returns?

she will like get a couple years worth of gst cheques and sales tax credit
in the mail :arrowl: