
How to File Your Income Taxes for Free in Canada
By Simon Hung
March 4, 2022Tax season is officially here and the Canada Revenue Agency has started accepting tax returns for the 2021 calendar year, with the deadline for most Canadian personal income tax returns falling on April 30, 2022.
The once-time-consuming chore has become a (mostly) painless experience in recent years thanks to NETFILE and easy-to-use software, with online filings accounting for 90% of all Canadian tax returns last year.
There are several free programs available that can instantly file your return to the CRA, so you won't have to panic-file at the last minute à la Homer Simpson – here's a list of free NETFILE-certified tax programs you can use to file your tax returns this year.
- CloudTax
- EachTax
- GenuTax
- H&R Block Tax Software
- Taxman 2021
- TaxTron
- TurboTax Free
- Wealthsimple Tax (formerly SimpleTax)
No payment is required to file T1 personal tax returns with these programs, but some accept "pay what you want" donations after filing, including GenuTax and Wealthsimple Tax. Free programs offer a maximum of 20 returns per computer and most are fully-featured, but some offer paid upgrades to unlock additional features.
Historically, TurboTax and Wealthsimple Tax have been the top choices among RedFlagDeals readers, while other popular options from previous years – notably AdxTax and StudioTax – are still available for 2021, but now require a fee to file your taxes with the CRA.
Additional Tax Tips
- All free programs offer a maximum of 20 returns per computer
- Traditionalists can find paper T1 tax forms at Canada Post and Service Canada outlets
- Low or fixed income Canadians have the option to file via telephone for free
- The deadline for self-employed individuals to file their taxes is June 15
- The CRA will never, ever, ever, ever call, text or email you for personal information or demand a payment with prepaid gift cards
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Editor's note: this article was originally published in 2016 and updated on March 1, 2022 to reflect the most up-to-date options
39 Comments
No sense paying for something you don't need to
not the prettiest interface but it gets the job done
As @truckmania mentioned, I'd prefer to keep my tax data in as few places as possible, I also have the usual "if you're not paying for it, you're not the customer" concerns with the free online services.
How exactly does that information get transmitted to the CRA? Carrier pigeon?
People thinking there's any privacy on any electronic device is just one big laugh nowadays. NSA has entered the chat
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency ... ogram.html
Here's what you'll need, note that some of it can be autofilled from your My CRA account: https://help.simpletax.ca/questions/switch-to-simpletax
That said, I am not sure what all information is sent via the webz from your computer to the CRA. But unlikely that it could be hacked.
As for these online services, no guarantee that your information won’t be hacked.
ufile-ca-ufile-2021-windows-14-99-after ... r-2505745/
I mean I am already with wealthsimple so this might make sense to use this if it allows me to easily import the investment statements.
Since I only used one license, I got my neighbour to try it too (senior couple). Ufile did some funky stuff on their returns while transferring income from one person to the other without any control on his side. He basically got the same issue that I did with entering figures but no control where the numbers are going or how they are been used. Ufile might be ok for a simple tax return, but it's not for me.
I'll probably either go Studiotax or Simpletax, depends on how cheap I want to be vs keeping all my data on my pc.
Suggestion?
My only concern with them starting to charge is that they're probably trying to post revenue in a bid to prove their value. I predict studiotax will sell out to one of the bigger players in the next 2-3 years.