Frequently Asked Questions

1 - When can I start to e-file my taxes with Whistler Tax Solutions?+

Our office is working year round, and when you have your information, you can contact us to start your return.

The CRA has an annual maintenance of their EFILE systems from the last week of January for roughly 4 weeks. This means the EFILEing (the last step of completing and filing your return) and verifying your tax slips on your CRA profile is not available during this time.

In conclusion, the earliest that tax returns can be filed for the previous year is generally the last week of February the following year (e.g., 2020 Tax returns cannot be EFILED until February 22nd, 2021 at the earliest)

2 - What happens if I dont file my taxes on time?+

Missed the Tax Deadline: Do not owe taxes

There are no penalites or interest for late filing of a tax return in a refund position. The penalities and interest are calculated on the amount owing.

A refund can occur when:

Too much tax was taken off when the income was issued. Eg Paycheque or investment distribution.
You have over paid your tax instalments or estimated taxes owing.

Thus, when your taxes are prepared, if you have over paid the taxes, you will receive the over payment as a refund.

Missed the Tax Deadline: Owe taxes

The late filing penalty is calculated on amount owing:

First year late: 5% of the balance owing, then 1% of balance owing each month for a max of 12 months
Second year late: 10% of the balance owing, then 2% of balance owing each month for a max of 20 months

The interest rate on amounts owing to the CRA is lower than a personal loan and much lower than credit card owing interest.

Tip: Even if you can not pay your taxes owing, file them on time to avoid the late filing penalty.

3 - Important Dates & Deadlines for Personal Income Tax.+

Date	Event
Final Monday in February	Efile opens (earliest you can file online)
February 28th	T4’s are required to be issued to employees
March 1st	Last date to contribute to an a RRSP for amount to apply to previous years income
March 31st	T3’s, T5’s and all other investment income slips required to be issued.
March 31st	Tax instalment for current year due
April 30th	Individual income tax returns
April 30th	Individual income tax owed for previous year due
June 15th	Business income (self-employed or contractor) tax return if you or your spouse are self-employed. (Note: payment due on 30 April).
June 30th	Tax instalment for current year due
September 15th	Tax instalment for current year due
December 15th	Tax instalment for current year due

4 - Can my NOA be issued immediately?+

Yes. When your taxes are e-filed, we can elect to access your express Notice of Assessment. This process is usually successful, although if you have complicated or a messy tax situation, it may not be available immediately.

5 - Where can I find a "Blank Cheque" AKA Direct Deposit Form on my online banking+

All Banks are different, and change these kinds of things somewhat frequently, but below is a set of instructions for some common banks. If you are having problems please contact your bank directly

RBC- Royal Bank

RBC Void chq details for mobile app

Under “My Services”
click on “Account Services” Under “Account Services”
click on “View and Print Void Cheque”
Select the applicable account from the drop down menu.

RBC void cheque info for Online Banking

Sign In to Online Banking.
Under “My Services” click on “Account Services”
Under “Account Services” click on “View and Print Void Cheque”
Select the applicable account from the drop down menu.

Scotia Bank

Scotia Bank Void cheque details for mobile app

If you don't have cheques for your account, here's how to view or print your void cheque details:

From the app’s Home screen, tap your chequing account
Tap Manage
Tap Direct deposit/void cheque info
Tap Void cheque
Go to Void Cheque and tap View/Print

Scotia Bank void cheque info for Online Banking

If you don't have cheques for your account, here's how to view or print your void cheque details:

From your Accounts page, select your chequing account
Select Direct Deposits & Payments
Go to Void Cheque and select View/Print

TD- Canada Trust

TD Void cheque details for mobile app

Log into the TD app.
From the home screen, select Accounts.
Select the account you want to use for the direct deposit.
Select the Summary tab.
Select the View link in the Direct Deposit Information row (your direct deposit information will be displayed).
Select Get Form (a form pre-filled with your direct deposit details will be displayed).
Select the download options icon in the top right corner and choose how you want to download the form.

TD void cheque info for Online Banking

sign into your TD online banking
select Chequing account
top right corner of page
Link to direct deposit form

Business account void cheques not available online. Please go to branch.

BSF - Blueshore Financial

BSF void cheque info for Online Banking

You can find all of your account information within Online Banking. Simply click on one of your chequing or savings accounts and look at the "account details".

You can even print a branded letter with an image of a void cheque and all of your account encoding. To do this simply click on the "Void Cheque Letter" link in the same location.

CIBC

CIBC void cheque info for Online Banking

Sign into CIBC Online Banking and select “My Accounts” from the menu.
Select the account you want to link.
Select the “Void cheque/direct deposit info” link from the “Manage My Account” dropdown.

BMO- Bank of Montreal

BMO void cheque info for Online Banking

Click on My Accounts.
Select your bank account.
Click on Void Cheque.

As a digital PDF copy of a cheque is not available for Small Business customers, instead click on Re-Order Cheques

6 - Working from home during 2023 - Employees (Workers who receive a T4)+

During the Covid 19 pandemic, the CRA introduced a temporary flat rate method of claiming expenses for employees working from home. They have discontinued this method for 2023. Employees who wish to claim home office expenses for the 2023 tax year will now need to use the detailed method and have a completed form T2200 from their employer

To claim the actual expenses you paid for working from your home in 2023, you must meet all of the following conditions:

Your employer required you to work from home. This does not have to be included in your employment contract but should be a written or verbal agreement or you have voluntarily entered into a formal telework arragement with your employer.
You were required to pay for expenses related to the workspace in your home.
Your workspace is where you mainly (more than 50% of the time) worked for a period of at least four consecutive weeks. The period can be longer than a month or You only use your workspace to earn employment income. You also must have used it regularly and continually for meeting clients, customers, or other people while doing your work.
Your expenses are used directly in your work.
You have a completed and signed copy of Form T2200, Declaration of Conditions of Employment, from your employer

Note: You cannot claim any expenses that were or will be reimbursed by your employer

To claim expenses you must:

determine the size and use (employment and personal) of your workspace to calculate your claim for work-space-in-the-home expenses. See this CRA webpage on how to calculate.
Keep any receipts, supporting documents and records for six years.

See the table below for what you can claim. Commission employees who sell goods or negotiate contracts (typically have an income amount in box 42 on their T4 slip), can claim some expenses that salaried employees cannot.

Can be claimed by all employees	Can only be claimed by commission employees	Cannot be claimed
Electricity	Home insurance	Mortgage interest
Heat	Property taxes	principal mortgage payments
Utilities portion (electricity, heat, and water) of your condominium fees	Lease of a cell phone, computer, laptop, tablet, fax machine, etc. that reasonably relate to earning commission income	Home internet connection fees
Water		Furniture
Home internet access fees		Wall decorations
Maintenance and minor repair costs		capital expenses (replacing windows, flooring, furnace, etc.)
Rent paid for a house or apartment where you live

If your employer requires you to pay for office supplies or certain phone expenses, you may be able to claim those expenses.

Although you can claim these expenses, they are not related to the physical workspace in your home. They are claimed on a different section of Form T777. Click here for more information and clarifications

7 - Working from home - Self Employed +

Working from home means that you can write-off some of your home office expenses. According to CRA rules, you can deduct the expenses for the business use of a workspace in your home if you meet one of the following conditions:

• It is your principal place of business

• You use the space only to earn your business income, and you use it on a regular and ongoing basis to meet your clients, customers, or patients

If you wish to claim home office expenses as a self employed individual please fill out form 4 on our Forms and worksheets page.

8 - Reporting CERB, EI and other taxable benefits +

CERB payments provided some financial relief during the pandemic, if you received any payments you should know that it is considered taxable income. This means when you file your 2020 taxes, you can expect to see some tax owing.

Other benefits like the Canada Recovery Benefit, the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit, and the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit are also taxable, but they did have an initial 10% tax rate taken off the amount immediately. This means if you move to the next tax bracket of 15% federal tax, you will owe an additional 5% when you file your taxes.

If you received EI, this is also considered taxable income. You should receive a T4E- Statement of Employment Insurance and Other Benefits that will document your EI earnings and any remittances. Just like the Canada Recovery Benefit, the CRA withheld 10% from your EI earnings.

9 - How to pay the taxes I owe the government. +

You can make your payment in one of the following ways:

My Payment: My Payment is a payment option that allows individuals and businesses to make payments online, using Canada Revenue Agency's (CRA)Web site, from an account at a participating Canadian financial institution.
Electronically: You may be able to pay electronically using your financial institution's Internet or telephone banking services. Most financial institutions allow you to schedule future-dated payments. For more information, contact your financial institution.
At your financial institution: You can make your payment free of charge at your financial institution in Canada. To do so, you have to use the remittance form in your personalized tax package (if you received one) or Form T7DR(A), Efile Remittance Form, which you can get from CRA. You cannot use a photocopy of a remittance form to make a payment at your financial institution. Our forms are printed with magnetic ink characters to allow for processing through the banking system. Photocopies do not contain magnetic ink and are refused by financial institutions.
By cheque or money order: You can attach to the front of your paper return a cheque or money order made out to the Receiver General. Enter your payment amount on line 486. To help CRA process your payment correctly, write your social insurance number on the back of your cheque or money order. You can send CRA a cheque or money order with the remittance form in your personalized tax package (if you received one) or with Form T7DR(A), which you can get from CRA. Mail the form and your cheque or money order to: Canada Revenue Agency PO Box 3800 STN A Sudbury ON P3A 0C3
Notes: Do not mail CRA cash or include it with your return. They accept post-dated cheques. If you make a payment with a cheque that your financial institution does not honour (including a cheque on which you put a "stop-payment"), CRA will charge you a fee.
Paying in foreign funds: You can make your payments in foreign funds. However, the exchange rate you receive for converting the payment to Canadian dollars is determined by the financial institution.
Wire transfers: This payment method is only available to non-residents who do not hold a Canadian bank account.

10 - Why do I owe taxes for multiple jobs? +

When we calculate our tax returns at the end of the tax year, the best situation is when the amount of tax deducted by the payroll administrator is the same as the amount of tax we owe. This is usually not the case. If there was too much deducted through out the year, then we receive a refund. If not enough was deducted, then we owe the balance by 30 April the following year. One of the most common reasons you owe tax is when you have multiple jobs.

InCanada, payroll is calculated as per government calculations. Each payroll administrator uses a stand alone software program (i.e. on their own computer) to make the calculations. This means that each job you have does not know about the other jobs you have in the same year.

For example, if you had a one day a week job that you only earnt $5000 for the year, then the taxes deducted would be minimal, usually about $100.00. If this was the only job you had all year, then this is a legitimate tax deduction. But the problem arises when you have another job that you made $15, 000.00 for the year. They would deduct the correct amount of income tax for that income. When you calculate your taxes owed for the year, we add the two incomes together and your gross income is now in another tax bracket, and there was not enough tax deducted through out the year.

11 - I can't pay my taxes, what do I do? +

Call the CRA and set up a Payment Plan. 1-888-863-8657. This is the CRA debt management department. Agents are available Monday to Friday (except holidays) from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Eastern Standard time.

The CRA generally respond favorably when you contact them regarding organizing payment, If they are forced to contact you regarding collection of funds then they can become difficult to deal with.

12 - How do I know if I am registered for Long Method or Quick Method GST? +

When you register to collect GST you will automatically be assigned to Long Method GST calculation. It is possible to for some businesses to elect to use the Quick Method of calculation. If you are unsure which method you are registered with, you can check by logging into your CRA My Business Account. Navigate to the GST section of your account and then select the link "View Elections". If "Quick method of accounting (GST74)" is present on the election summary then you are registered for Quick Method. If not, then you are registered for Long Method.

13 - What is the difference between a tax credit and a tax deduction?

Tax Deductions

These reduce your taxable income calculation.
Common tax deductions include childcare expenses, moving expenses, employment expenses, and RRSP contributions
Summary: A tax deduction means you are paying tax on a lower income, it will save you money.

Refundable Tax Credits:

These are payments to the tax payer and are calculated and assessed on taxable income.
They include GST quarterly benefit payments, Child Tax Benefit (CTB) payments, Canada Worker's Benefit (CWB) payment.
Summary: If you qualify for a refundable tax credit you will recieve an extra payment from the CRA after you have filed your taxes.

Non-Refundable Tax credits:

You cannot claim this tax credit refund if you do not owe tax for the year.
Common tax credits include the disability tax credit and the home buyers' amount.
Summary: This can reduce the taxes you owe, and save you money.