# online tax filling .



## madelinot (Nov 22, 2014)

i am 56 yo and filed my taxes the old fashion way all my life . Thinking its time to join the 20 th century and file my taxes online . My question is what tax program do you recommend . i live off my investment income and have already calculated my capital Gains for 2014 . I have about 10 tax slips altogether to enter .T3 T5 and T5013 . Thanks for comments and recommendation . Free program would be better ( found Studiotax ) but not sure what other people do .


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## Davis (Nov 11, 2014)

Studio Tax is free and is approved by CRA. I have been quite happy with it. The programs that you pay for are probably more user-friendly. If you can spend the time to work your way through Studio Tax the first year, you can save a fair bit of money over many years fo filing. Whichever you choose, online filing is vastly superior to paper filing. It is faster, requires fewer calcuations by you, and therefore means you probably make fewer mistakes. Also, each year, online filing should be getting easier, so there will be more advantages year after year.


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## GreatLaker (Mar 23, 2014)

I have used tax software for decades. Most recently I used the online version of TurboTax. This year I switched to SimpleTax because I did not want to upgrade to the premier version of TurboTax just to handle some simple capital gains. TurboTax is easier because it has an interview process that leads users through data entry. SimpleTax just has a text entry field where you type in T-slips or taxable items, so you need to be more organized, but if you have all your T-slips and know all your tax entries (charitable donations, interest not on a t-slip etc) it is very easy to use.

I will use SimpleTax again next year. It is not free, but you can pay whatever you want, including $0. It is an online program so data is stored on their servers, not your PC if that bothers you.


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## madelinot (Nov 22, 2014)

I had already made my income tax on paper and then to compare i downloaded studio tax . I filed it all out the only major difference is they added $ 659.93 to my federal taxes on schedule 1 between line 406 and 420 . And then on the provincial tax calculation they added that amount again on a line as Nb additional minimum tax . They added on the provincial tax to pay 57 % of 659.93 . I have no clue why they Studiotax did that . HELP . pls


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## Rebecca (Aug 10, 2014)

I joined the 21st century about 3 years ago and have used Studio Tax since that time. I find it very easy to use and the CRA has always agreed with the final results that Studio Tax generated for me.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

I started with Cantax in 1986 and have completed the taxes electronically every year since. When TurboTax acquired them and tried to get me to pay extra for all the returns, I switched to Ufile Online. It has served me well with Netfiling. This year it cost $24 but for many years it was free. It does not do the efile of the T1135 so I would not choose it for 2014 because of that. I have to paper file this page from Mexico.


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## OptsyEagle (Nov 29, 2009)

madelinot said:


> I had already made my income tax on paper and then to compare i downloaded studio tax . I filed it all out the only major difference is they added $ 659.93 to my federal taxes on schedule 1 between line 406 and 420 . And then on the provincial tax calculation they added that amount again on a line as Nb additional minimum tax . They added on the provincial tax to pay 57 % of 659.93 . I have no clue why they Studiotax did that . HELP . pls


You will need to be a little more specific. There are quite a few lines between 406 and 420 on Schedule 1 and no one knows what province you live in and a line number for the provincial return would go along way to help us help you. Keep in mind all we know about you is madelinot. Kind of hard to do advise on your taxes with just that.


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## madelinot (Nov 22, 2014)

@ OptsyEagle . Thats my 1 st problem . At line 406//57 they have federal tax /Example $ 10,000.00 and then at line 417//63 and line 420//66 that number jumps to $ 10,659.93 net federal tax to pay . But it's not explained or added to any sub line that tells me what it's for !! Oh they mention its pertaining to form T691 alternative minimum tax but i have no clue what thats all about . If i was to file by paper i would not have used that form or that amount .


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## OptsyEagle (Nov 29, 2009)

In Studiotax, at the top there is something called "forms". Click on that and in the top left corner box, scroll down until you find form T691. Highlight that form and below where the arrows are, click on the down arrow to drop that form into your federal forms.

Now go back to the return and on the left side where your federal forms are find T691 and click on it. It should now show up in the main window. Take a look at that form and try to see where the numbers you mentioned are coming from. I imagine it is probably coming from an error in inputting a T-slip. One number in one wrong box and these things can come about. Anyway, I can only guess. Hopefully T691 form may shed more light.


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## madelinot (Nov 22, 2014)

From what i see on form T691 because my capital gains are almost as much as my Taxable amount of dividend received they have a minimum tax calculation i have to pay and that calculation comes out $ 659.93 higher to pay . Even if i am correct on that i have never filled out that form any other years and was always oked by CRA . This is just one more headache i don't need .


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## JordoR (Aug 20, 2013)

I've used Turbo Tax for probably 5 years now and love it. Since it saves all your information from previous years, it took me well under 5 mins to complete and file my taxes this year. Just enter in my new T4 and investment information.

I usually split it with about 4 other people so the cost is next to nothing for me, however there seems to be a large amount of free software out these days that have been out for several years that I would urge anyone to try out.


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## madelinot (Nov 22, 2014)

This is the explanation i just found on CRA website about T691 and the minimum tax i copy and pasted this :: 
Minimum tax limits the tax advantage you can receive in a tax year from certain incentives. You have to pay minimum tax if it is more than the federal tax you calculate in the usual way. If you reported a taxable capital gain on line 127 of your return or if you claimed any of the following:

a loss (including your share of a partnership loss) resulting from, or increased by, claiming capital cost allowance on rental properties;
a loss from a limited partnership;
most carrying charges (line 221) on certain investments;
a loss from resource properties resulting from, or increased by, claiming a depletion allowance, exploration expenses, development expenses or Canadian oil and gas property expenses;
a deduction for an employee home relocation loan on line 248 of your return;
a deduction for security options on line 249 of your return;
a federal political contribution tax credit on lines 409 and 410 of your Schedule 1;
an investment tax credit on line 412 of your Schedule 1;
a labour-sponsored funds tax credit on line 414 of your Schedule 1;
a federal dividend tax credit on line 425 of your Schedule 1; or
an overseas employment tax credit on line 426 of your Schedule 1.
To calculate the adjusted taxable income for minimum tax, complete Form T691, Alternative Minimum Tax. If the adjusted taxable income calculated on this form exceeds the basic exemption of $40,000, you may have to pay minimum tax.


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## lb71 (Apr 3, 2009)

madelinot said:


> From what i see on form T691 because my capital gains are almost as much as my Taxable amount of dividend received they have a minimum tax calculation i have to pay and that calculation comes out $ 659.93 higher to pay . Even if i am correct on that i have never filled out that form any other years and was always oked by CRA . This is just one more headache i don't need .


Perhaps you were never subject to the minimum tax in the past? I'm sure the CRA would have caught it. Try doing your 2013 or earlier tax year on Studio tax and see if it triggers the minimum tax. Older versions are available on their website.


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## Davis (Nov 11, 2014)

For most people, minimum tax is only an occasional thing - it occurs in some years as a result of extraordinary deductions as described above, so you may not have had to pay it before. Note that in future years you can claim a credit against ordinary income tax for the minimum tax you pay this year. 

The fact that Studio Tax has picked this up for demonstrates the value of online filing. You don't want to overlook something like that, have CRA find it, charge interest and maybe penalties, and then look into several years of your returns. Better to pay it now if you owe it.


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## AMABILE (Apr 3, 2009)

try entering your details on U-FILE, there's no charge until you e-file ($14.95)
then see if your minimum tax comes up .


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## madelinot (Nov 22, 2014)

Perhaps you were never subject to the minimum tax in the past? I'm sure the CRA would have caught it. Try doing your 2013 or earlier tax year on Studio tax and see if it triggers the minimum tax. Older versions are available on their website.

Yes i will try that tomorrow , I'm pretty sure my Capital gains were even higher in 2013 but i will do the calculation . I'm not sure Cra would have caught it but i wunder about that .


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## OptsyEagle (Nov 29, 2009)

Also, we are talking about some fairly large values. There is a $40,000 exemption so my next question is:

From this list of events below, are the ones that apply to you in the $40,000 to almost $90,000 for the capital gains, range?



> If you reported a taxable capital gain on line 127 of your return or if you claimed any of the following:
> a loss (including your share of a partnership loss) resulting from, or increased by, claiming capital cost allowance on rental properties;
> a loss from a limited partnership;
> most carrying charges (line 221) on certain investments;
> ...


Even if they are, you should note that if they are not this high next year or in the 6 years after that, this extra tax will be refunded to you.

AMT is a pretty wanky tax in my opinion, but it was designed to ensure that if some fancy accountant gets overly cute with his tax strategies and comes up with some way for some rich guy to keep benefiting year after year from some of these tax reduction programs, the government said, no way. You need to fire that accountant and start paying some tax. So bite into this AMT _and don't do it again._ If on the other hand, it is a one year thing, then they basically refund the AMT tax the following year (without the deserving apology, I might add). So make note of line 427 for details on the refunding mechanism.


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## madelinot (Nov 22, 2014)

I did my calculation for 2013 and i wasn't subject to tis AMT that year . 2014 will be the first year i have to pay AMT . I will remember ( make a note ) for 2015 taxes and look at this again . My capital was higher in 2013 than 2014 but also all other figures were different . So Studiotax will be my new way to make my taxes they are already printed ( wife and i ) and will be sent in next week . So far 2015 Capital gains are a bit lower than normal for me but we are only 3 1/2 months into the year . Thanks for the reply's everyone . Happy investing and sad paying Sooo much taxes !!!


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

AMABILE said:


> try entering your details on U-FILE, there's no charge until you e-file ($14.95)
> then see if your minimum tax comes up .


There is a 20% discount available with this code:
"DON'T MISS OUT. Until April 22nd, receive 20% off with UFile ONLINE by entering the voucher code below when you're ready to file.
X2H0T6YJ8S"
and you can pay by the 22nd and not file until the 30th, plus you can continue to change your form until you are happy.


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## Gail83 (Apr 12, 2016)

*$2 Off UFile Online*

For anyone looking to try UFile Online this year, I work for Thomson Reuters and have the below valid code giving $2 for anyone who is interested.

$2 Off - H9Z302Z014

Valid until May 2nd 2016.


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## Karen (Jul 24, 2010)

GreatLaker said:


> I have used tax software for decades. Most recently I used the online version of TurboTax. This year I switched to SimpleTax because I did not want to upgrade to the premier version of TurboTax just to handle some simple capital gains. TurboTax is easier because it has an interview process that leads users through data entry. SimpleTax just has a text entry field where you type in T-slips or taxable items, so you need to be more organized, but if you have all your T-slips and know all your tax entries (charitable donations, interest not on a t-slip etc) it is very easy to use.
> 
> I will use SimpleTax again next year. It is not free, but you can pay whatever you want, including $0. It is an online program so data is stored on their servers, not your PC if that bothers you.


I also used TurboTax for several years and switched to SimpleTax for the last couple of years. But, unlike GreatLaker, I prefer SimpleTax. To me, it's more straightforward to use, particularly now that it will automatically enter your T slips for you. And it's not really accurate to say it's not free. They do ask for a donation (I donate whatever TurbpTax would have charged), but you don't have to pay anything if you don't choose to.

As for accuracy, I prepared my return this year twice - once with SimpleTax and again with TurboTax and the results were within one cent of each other. I didn't have to pay for TurboTax because you don't pay until you're ready to file, which I didn't do.


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