Once your tax return is filed electronically, it takes about two weeks before your refund is processed.  If you have provided your banking information, the refund may be deposited to your account even sooner. To find out the status of your refund, you may check your account using My Account or by calling CRA at 1-800-959-8281.  Have your Tax Summary handy to be able to respond to the security check questions.

Although we have access to our client's accounts, the access isn't intended for this purpose.  We request access to be able to deal with CRA on your behalf to resolve problems.  Keep in mind that you may be charged for requests of this nature submitted to our office.

You must pay your personal tax balance owing by April 30, regardless of when your personal tax return is due.  There are several ways to do this:

My preference is on-line banking.  All you need to do is set CRA up as a payee using your Social Insurance number as the account reference number.  If you have any difficulty with this, contact your financial instituion for assistance.

Procrastinating doesn't always pay off.  For those of you who are still gathering your tax papers, we suggest that you make a tax instalment by April 30.  Tax returns that arrive at our office after we break for Easter weekend, may not be filed by the end of the month.  To minimize interest and penalties charged, you may want to consider making a tax instalment.  Refer to our Tax Brochure on the home page for an estimate of tax at various levels of income.

The following are 4 commonn made mistakes that can problems on tax returns in Canada.

RRSP Contributions not claimed

RRSP contributions made in the first 60 days of the year (Jan 1 – Mar 1 2010) must be reported on the personal income tax return for the previous year (2009), even if not claimed as a deduction.

Contributing to non-registered charities

Contributions made to Canadian registered charities may be claimed on your tax return.  Check your receipts for a RR# indicating the charity is registered.

Appliances do not qualify for the Home Renovation Tax Credit

There are many other expenses that qualify – for a complete list, check the Canada Revenue Agency website.

Income slips missed

Compare the slips you received in the current year to your Slips Summary from the previous tax year.  Failure to include all your income could result in interest and penalties.

Tuition transfer not correctly calculated

Ask your children for their T2202A OFFICIAL receipt.  They MUST sign the back to designate the transfer.