Toronto Financial Services Deals

Tax season isn't far off, and it's time to figure out how you're going to file your taxes! Some of you will be able to file for free with free online versions of Intuit TurboTax. It's a great place to start as TurboTax is one of the most trusted names for tax software.

You qualify for the TurboTax Free Online Edition if you:

• Have a T4 or a T4A
• Don't have RRSPs, charitable donations or medical expenses (that is, you only receive standard federal & provincial deductions)
• Don't have investment income
• Don't have self-employment income
• Have other income, like pension or money from tips

You qualify for the TurboTax Student Free Online Edition if you:

• Were a post-secondary student who paid tuition in 2011
• Have a household income of less than $20,000

If the free options don't work for you,, you can still save 10% on all TurboTax Software here. This discount applies to online editions and downloaded/shipped software.

MBNA has just released a new credit card that's pretty attractive if you buy a lot of gadgets. The MBNA SonyCard MasterCard has no annual fee, and a nice welcome offer. You get 2000 Sony points after your first qualifying purchase, and you get a free Sony Reader Wi-Fi after your first five purchases. Here's a closer look at the card features:

• No annual fee
• 1.99% annual interest rate (AIR) on balance transfers, access cheques and deposits for the first 6 full months
• Earn Sony Points with every qualifying purchase made on your SonyCard MasterCard credit card
• Earn 2,000 bonus Sony Points after your first qualifying purchase.
• Total household income of $35,000 or greater required for card eligibility

The Sony Reader Wi-Fi currently retails for $119.99 at the Sony store, so there's definitely a nice sign-up incentive. Note that your first five purchases must be made by May 31, 2012 to qualify.

For a look at other MBNA credit cards, including the popular MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus MasterCard, use the RedFlagDeals.com Credit Card Comparison tool.

Happy tax season! Now that it's here, why not celebrate it with these discount offers from HRBlock.ca:

• Save 20% on H and R Block At Home Tax Software with coupon code HRBC20 ($6 savings off the $29.99 price)
• Get free shipping on your H and R Block At Home Canadian Tax Software with coupon code HRBCFS
• Bonus with purchase - free Audit Assistance ($75 value)
• Bonus with purchase - free copy of Canadian Tax Tips for Dummies

Note: H and R Block At Home Tax Software is not compatible with Mac operating systems, but Mac users can still take advantage of the H and R Block At Home Online version.

For more information, or to get started, visit HRBlock.ca.

Low mortgage rates are still making a big splash. If you're looking for long term security, ING Direct is offering a 10 Year Fixed Rate "Unmortgage" at 3.99%. Some other institutions have followed suit, but a 10-year fixed rate mortgage at under 4% is definitely news!

ING Direct mortgages give you flexible prepayment options -- you can make lump sum payments up to 25% of your original mortgage amount and increase regular payments up to 25% every year.

If you're still considering your options, you can compare mortgage rates with the RedFlagDeals.com mortgage comparison tool.

After BMO jumped out of the gate with a 5-year fixed rate mortgage at 2.99%, other financial institutions have responded aggressively with low mortgage rate offers of their own. Now, multiple banks have 2.99% 4-year fixed rate mortgages!

• 2.99% 4-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage at RBC Royal Bank
• 2.99% 4-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage at TD Canada Trust
• 2.99% 4-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage at Scotiabank
• 2.99% 4-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage at CIBC

Instead of the extra year you get from BMO, these 4-year mortgages tend to have a more flexibility in terms of paying off your mortgage -- longer amortization periods and higher prepayment/payment increase options, for instance. No offer is definitively better than the other since everyone has different needs.

All in all, it's a good time if you're hunting for a mortgage. Even if you aren't, educating yourself now will help you in the long run. You can start doing more research with the RedFlagDeals.com mortgage rate comparison tool.

If you have money idle in your account, you might want to look into this GIC option currently available at ING Direct. For a limited time, ING Direct has a 2.5% interest 90-day GIC.

You can choose to put this GIC towards your Retirement Savings Plan (RSP) or put it in a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA). If you put your GIC in a TFSA, you can withdraw funds and re-deposit that amount the following year in addition to your annual $5,000 contribution limit. Unlike RSPs, your TFSA contributions are not tax-deductible. Click here to learn more or get more insights from our Forum. The 2.5% GIC offer is available until February 29.

Right now, ING Direct also has a promotion for new clients. If you open a RSP or TFSA account with ING and deposit $100 or more, you can get a $25 bonus. This bonus, unfortunately, is offered to new clients only. Click here to get more info from our Forum members.

November 26, 2011 Update: With the news in August that TD bought MBNA Canada, we can't be certain how much longer the Smart Cash Platinum Plus MasterCard will be available. To date, it remains one of the best no-fee cashback credit cards on the market, and it's very much worth a look if you don't have one. It could definitely come in handy during the holiday season, too!

Originally posted September 24, 2009: Still looking for the right credit card? MBNA has put an impressive credit card offer online. The MBNA Smart Cash Platinum Plus Mastercard is a no annual fee card with some pretty robust cash back rewards. Here are the details:

• Get 5% cash back on net gas and grocery purchases for the first 6 months (up to spending $600 per month, 1% thereafter)
• Get 3% cash back on net gas and grocery purchases thereafter (up to spending $600 per month, 1% thereafter)
• Get 1% cash back for all other net retail purchases
• 1.99% introductory annual interest rate on balance transfers and cheque cash advances for 10 months
• No annual fee

As a platinum card, it also carries the the normal platinum benefits -- a warranty extension of up to one additional year on most new purchases and free car rental insurance when renting vehicles. In terms of application restrictions, you do need to have a minimum income of total household income of $35,000 or greater. Overall, it's a very strong credit card offer. If you want to see how it stacks up to the competition, use the RedFlagDeals.com's Canadian Credit Card Comparison page or you can compare it against other MBNA Credit Cards here.

With interest rates at historic lows, prime rate is currently 3% and many banks are offering secured line of credit against your home at prime +1%. RBC is trying to do one better and offering to switch your secured line of credit over to their RBC Homeline plan at a rate of prime +0.5%. RBC will even pay so that you can get out of your existing agreement and over to RBC within certain conditions as listed on their site:

We will pay the basic title insurance fee (not including migration fee), appraisals/property valuation fee and one discharge/switch out fee at another financial institution (up to $225 maximum). Offer excludes mortgage prepayment charges that you may have to pay. Minimum advance $50,000.

If you're considering opening a Tax-Free Savings Account or finding an institution with a better rate than your current, there are 2 options right now that are offering an interest rate of 3%.

The institutions are Peoples Trust and Canadian Direct Financial. Money at both institutions is insurable by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation. Do note that Peoples Trust does not currently offer online banking.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, you can place up to $5,000 a year in post-tax dollars in TFSA-eligible accounts earnings on those dollars are tax free. You can also have a look at our quick primer on TFSAs that will give you the a rundown of uses, benefits, and weaknesses.

Remember, rates are subject to change!

TradePub is a magazine service that offers subscriptions to industry specific publications as well as complimentary eBooks and technical document downloads. Generally, subscriptions are free as long as you work in the relevant industry. Here are some of the goodies available at RedFlagDeals.TradePub.com:

• Oracle Magazine - Oracle Magazine contains technology strategy articles, sample code, tips, Oracle and partner news, how to articles for developers and DBAs, and more. Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) is the world's largest enterprise software company.
• Bloomberg Businessweek - this offer includes four free issues and the digital playbook Power Plays.
• EDN - EDN magazine provides how-to solutions for design engineers in the electronics industry.
• Twitter Means Business - this eBook excerpt details how your company can benefit from Twitter.
• Bank Systems & Technology - Bank Systems & Technology delivers information on the strategic use of technology for increased productivity and profitability.
• Profit Magazine - this magazine reports on technology investments.

January 22 update: Good news! ING Direct's THRiVE Chequing Account is now available to everyone. It's one of a number of free chequing accounts out there but it's the most full featured by a fair margin. You can't get free e-mail money transfers, overdraft protection, and interest on your balance together in any of the other free chequing accounts. Originally posted August 26: Very soon, ING Direct will offer Canadian customers a no-fee chequing account called "THRiVE Chequing". Here are some of the features that might interest you:

• an interest rate of 0.25% for balances of $0 - $49,999, 1% for $50,000 to $99,999.99 and 1.1% for $100,000 and more.
• ING "Whoops!" overdraft protection covers you for up to $250 in overdrawn funds without fees or interest provided money is paid back within 30 days
• no-fee bank machine access to The Exchange Network
• free email money transfers and free first order of cheques (20), additional cheques are 20 for $10
• email notification every time you make a withdrawal

10,000 accounts will be available on September 14. You can learn more about the account here and pre-register if you are an ING Direct customer.

Wave Accounting Inc. is a Toronto-based company that provides web-based accounting software designed specifically for small businesses and it's all free, online, at WaveAccounting.com. The idea is to take those paper documents and Excel documents and get them into an accounting system with as little pain as possible. You can import transactions from your bank accounts, have Wave Accounting categorize expenses for you, and let the system do some of that manual accounting work. What's the catch? How can it be free? Here's how they explain it:

In Wave, you’ll soon see special savings opportunities for things that matter to your business. Mobile phone services, for instance, or office products, or business banking — all at a lower cost than you may be paying now. If you choose to take advantage of any of them, Wave gets paid by the supplier. So you save money and Wave makes money.

When it's free it's hard to beat and it's easy to sign up to give it a spin. Let us know what you think in the comments.

Toronto-based Payment Evolution has been getting some press recently with articles in the Financial Post and on StartupNorth.ca highlighting their free online payroll solution. It's tailored to small businesses looking to spend more time working on their business and less time dealing with the administration of payroll. Free is of course a very small-business friendly price, and it'll remain free for those businesses that have 5 employees or less. If you have 6 or more employees, it's still a very affordable $18 per month.

As far as we're aware, this is the only free payroll solution available in Canada; if you find more or other useful small business tools, please share them in them comments!

If you're looking for a travel rewards credit card, Capital One has emerged with a very strong offering. The Capital One Aspire Travel World MasterCard comes with a lot of perks and looks to be one of the strongest options available. Here's a look at the primary features:

• $120 annual fee
• 2 miles per $1 spent on all purchases (including travel that you redeem points on)
• sign-up bonus of 35,000 miles when you make your first purchase
• anniversary bonus of 10,000 miles annually
• extended warranties and price protection
• comprehensive travel insurance (accident, car rental, travel emergency medical, flight delay, trip interrupt, trip cancellation, baggage loss, baggage delay)
• option to redeem reward miles for cash or gift cards
• annual interest rate of 19.8%
• minimum household income of $60,000 required to apply

The annual 10,000 reward miles bonus takes care of most of the $120 annual fee (leaving $20) and the robust travel insurance is a big enticement. The sign-up bonus is definitely pretty juicy as well. Reward miles can be put toward a wide variety of travel costs -- flights, hotels, vacation packages, train, bus, cruises, and car rentals. The notable restriction is that there are set redemption tiers up to $600, at which point the redemption is just 100 points per dollar.

Overall, it's a very flexible travel rewards card. If you are careful about how you redeem miles, you can have a return rate around 2%. That, along with the other perks (travel insurances, extended warranties, and the option of 1.5% cashback for instance) make this worth checking out.

To do more research, check out the RedFlagDeals.com Credit Card Comparison Tool.

If you're a small business looking for a good banking solution, HSBC has emerged with a very strong offering called HSBC Business Direct. According to HSBC, it provides "all the services and transactions a typical small business needs to manage its day-to-day banking". Here's an overview:

• No monthly fee
• Unlimited free Business Internet Banking, ATM and Business Telephone Banking, including free transfers, bill payments and electronic deposits and withdrawals
• 20 free cheques deposited per month
• Write up to 20 cheques free per month
• 24/7 automated assistance from the HSBC Business Centre
• Access by phone to Business Direct Relationship Managers
• Free Business Internet Banking upgrade to international wire capability

Cheques written after the free 20, activities at branches, and currency deposits can still incur fees (more details can be found on the HSBC Business Direct FAQ page), but the core features of this offering are impressive. For applicable small business, this is a pretty hot offer!