If you are a student, you probably don’t owe much in taxes, but you’ll still want to make sure you are getting the refund you deserve. Here are five tax tips that will make sure you don’t miss out on any credits or deductions at tax time.

1) Claim extra school related costs.

You’ll receive a T2202 slip for your official tuition expenses from your post-secondary institution, but if you incurred additional expenses while attending school you may be eligible to deduct those expenses on your tax return.

Additional education expenses that may be eligible for a deduction on your income tax return include:

• the cost of your identification card
• examination fees
• admission fees

Additional expenses do not include travel, parking, and equipment such as lab coats, calculators or computers. To see a full list of eligible additional expenses, review the CRA website.

If you are unsure if these costs were included in your T2202, contact your student services office to clarify the expenses included on your T2202 slip.

 2) Take the bus.

If you take the bus or use public transit to get around, save your passes and receipts through the year to take advantage of the Public Transit tax credit. The Public Transit amount will allow you to claim the cost of monthly or annual public transit passes for travel within Canada.

In order to claim the Public Transit amount on your income tax return your receipt must include the following information:

• an indication that it is a monthly (or longer duration) pass;
• the date or period for which the pass is valid;
• the name of the transit authority or organization issuing the pass;
• the amount paid for the pass; and
• the identity of the rider, either by name or unique identifier.

If your pass does not include all of this information, you will also need to keep your receipts, cancelled cheques or credit card statements, in addition to your passes, to support your claim.

Can you claim a transit credit if you purchased a U-pass as part of your university tuition? Yes. Your university should issue you a separate U-pass receipt along with your T2202A slip. Use this to claim the transit credit for the applicable months.

3) File a tax return.

Many students who go to school full-time & do not work, skip filing a tax return because they don’t have any income tax to pay. This isn’t a good idea! Filing a tax return will ensure that you apply for the social benefits you may be entitled to like the GST/HST credit and will calculate  the education amounts you are entitled to carry forward to apply to future income tax returns or transfer to your parent or spouse.

4) Keep track of the interest on your student loans.

If your student loan was received under the Canada Student Loans Act, the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act or a similar provincial or territorial government law, you are eligible to claim the amount you paid in interest on your loan for 2011.

You cannot claim interest paid on any other kind of loan include a personal loan or line of credit.

 5) Keep your moving expense receipts.

If you moved to go to school full-time, you can deduct your moving expenses on your income tax return if you have taxable income from scholarships, bursaries, fellowships or research grants. You must have moved at least 40 kilometers & be closer to the school in order for the moving expenses to qualify.

To claim moving expenses you’ll need to know the following information:

• the distance (in kilometers) from your old home to your school
• the distance (in kilometers) from your new home to your school
• the date of the move
• the date you started your studies
• the address of your school, your old residence & your new residence
• the sale of your old home (if applicable) including the selling price, any real estate commissions, legal fees or advertising costs
• any temporary living expenses incurred including the number of nights in the temporary living conditions & the cost of meals
• travelling expenses including the number of kilometers travelled, number of household members in the move and the amount paid for meals while moving
• new home expenses including the purchase price and legal fees
• eligible income at your new location including income from scholarships, bursaries, fellowships & research grants

It’s better to give than to receive but when you can combine both, it’s win-win. Canadians that donate cash or gifts to registered charities are eligible for a tax credit, so we can all feel good about helping others and earn a bonus at tax time. Gifts can include money, property, shares or stocks that are donated to a registered charity, municipality, province or other institution.

Ready to donate? The Revenue Agency website offers a list of Canadian registered charities. It’s best to check this list before donating; crooks prey on generous folks during the holiday season, defrauding thousands of Canadians every year using savvy donation schemes. Review the CRA’s tips to avoid fraud and ensure your money is going to an official and worthwhile organization. Keep in mind, charities are not legally required to issue a tax receipt so it’s best to ask before you give – should you want to claim your donation. Remember any donation receipt should include a registration number. If a registered charity is hesitant to write a receipt, consider this a red flag and contact the CRA.

To simplify tax calculations, complete the CRA Schedule 9 tax form early and file away with the rest of your tax documents.

There is no better time to help those less fortunate than during the holiday season. It’s a great opportunity to teach your kids the importance of giving or to organize a group donation with colleagues, family or friends. Find everything you need to know about donating to charities on the Canada Revenue Agency website.

*Here is a screenshot of the donations question in the Personal Tax Profile tab in TurboTax. 

The world is a much better place due to the hard work of those in creative industries such as painting, writing, photography and design. And like any other business, an art or creative business must also file taxes with the Canada Revenue Agency.  This handy infographic breaks down some of the expenses a creative individual can claim for their small business income.

You will now find a new meaning to the word Help when they look to the Live Community in the right rail of our Tax products. The Live Community has now become a power house of answers though the addition of hundreds of thousands of internal and external self help sources. This means TurboTax users are going to get the help they need quickly and when they need it most! And, the best part is that they will no longer have to go outside our product to seek their answers. You can now access CRA/MRQ documents, support site content, in-product Help documents, and as always, valuable Live Community answers directly from the right side of your TurboTax product

What is Live Community?

The Live community is an online network  created to give you quick access to answers while filing your return.  You can ask a question or quickly access hundreds of thousands of Help documents to get your answers fast.

Where is the Live Community Located?

The Live community is found on the right-hand side of the screen of your TurboTax product.

What kind of Help materials will I find in Live Community?

You can now access official CRA/MRQ documents, TurboTax support site and in-product Help documents, and as always, valuable Live Community answers directly from the right rail of their product. There are literarily hundreds of thousands of Help documents and Q&A posts in the Live Community.

How does Live Community work?

Ask a question or let the community ask the questions for you. The Live community is a dynamic support feature that was design to show you the most popular questions for each section of TurboTax.  No matter where you are in TurboTax the help you receive in the right-hand side of your screen will reflect questions & answers that relate to that particular page. For example, if you are entering in your medical expenses. The Live Community will show you a list of popular questions about “Entering medical expenses” for that page.

My question isn’t in the Live Community right-rail. Can I search for it?

You sure can! Simply click into the search box and type in your question. The Live Community will do the rest. In this example, you can see there are three answers suggested by the Live Community. The Live Community also tells you who the question was answered by, if it was a helpful answer and if it solved the user’s question.

You can also access the Live Community directly online here: https://turbotax.community.turbotaxonline.ca/.

The cost of raising a child in Canada is estimated to be over $200,000, and since the nuclear family is alive and well in our country, many of us will need to double, maybe even triple, this amount! It’s good to know that the Canadian government does offer us some breaks in terms of various tax breaks and credits. If you’re new to the messy and unpredictable yet oh-so-rewarding world of parenthood, make sure you’re taking advantage of what’s available.

Child Care: You can claim expenses related to hiring a babysitter or sending children to daycare – up to $7,000 for kids under seven and $4,000 if they’re ages seven to 16. The costs are deducted from the income you’ll claim on your tax return.

Summer Camp: If you work or go to school, summer camps, sports programs or after-school activities may quality for the child care tax deduction, but many parents overlook this on their returns. Since you’re not allowed to carry forward unclaimed expenses, you have to claim it or lose it.

Children’s fitness amount: Claim up to $500 for any fees spent on your child’s fitness activities including soccer, hockey or other physical activities. The Canada Revenue Agency explains what qualifies for the children’s fitness credit.

Children’s arts credit: This new credit lets you claim up to $500 for every child under the age of 16 (18 if your child also qualifies for the disability tax credit) as long as the arts program is at least 8 weeks long. So encourage your child to explore their creative side and reap the tax savings. The dollars you save might provide some consolation for enduring clarinet practice.

Canada child tax benefit: Parents receive this non-taxable monthly payment to help with the costs of raising a child. The amount is based on your net income and province of residence. You can realize up to $310 in tax savings for every child under the age of 18 who lives under your roof. Sorry, no credits for those who stick around past 18!

Universal child care benefit: Parents receive $100 a month for every child under six. Everyone qualifies for the UCCB, regardless of whether or not your child is enrolled in child care programs or daycare.

You can calculate the amount of payments you qualify for using the CRA’s child and family benefits calculator.

Good luck!

The Flags feature in TurboTax allows you to create a bookmark anywhere in the tax return so you can easily refer back to add more information or for any other reason. The Flags button is located on the top right of the screen so you can quickly create the bookmark and continue on with your return.

To set a Flag, click on the Flags icon located in the top right corner of the EasyStep Interview screen.

When you select the Flag icon for the very first time, a small box will appear. If you would like to add a Flag, click on the Add button.

When you click on the Add button, the small box will change into a note format where you can enter a title and a small note (optional) and click Save.

Your Flag will now be set.  The Flag you have entered will be tied to the interview step where you created the Flag.

You can continue in the Interview. If at any time you’d like to view your Flags, you can click on the Flags icon to see the list of Flags you have set. Don’t worry! If you get to the end of the return and you still have open Flags, TurboTax will prompt you to Review you Flags.

If you get this prompt all you need to do is select the Review button to open up the Flags. Clicking on your Flag will take you back the interview step where the Flag was set so you can review or enter any information you had wanted to come back to.

There’s no question the cost of raising kids today is high  From childcare to education and everything in between,  it can be a little overwhelming if you break down how much it actually costs to raise a kid to adulthood (and let’s be honest – in many families the purse strings aren’t exactly tightened the minute the 18^th birthday rolls around!)

While there are a number of tax breaks for families at the federal level, the provinces also have their own programs and initiatives that can ease the financial burden for families.   In fact, many provinces mirror their own provincial tax credits after those at the national level – for example, Ontario offers the Children’s Activity Tax Credit, which piggybacks on the federal Children’s Fitness Tax Credit.

But some provinces also offer other unique breaks. Probably the most well-known perk is the Quebec government’s $7 a day subsidized daycare program.  That province also made headlines when it became the first jurisdiction on the continent to offer subsidized in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments.   Previously, couples seeking to grow their families were eligible for a refundable tax credit of 50 per cent of admissible costs for treatments; now, the province will fully fund up to three cycles of treatment.

Manitoba now offers a family-friendly tax credit to help pay for costly fertility treatments, too.  The new Fertility Treatment Tax Credit provinces couples with 40 per cent credit on eligible expenses of to $20,000 a year for a maximum benefit of $8,000.

Aside from fertility treatments, Newfoundland and Labrador offers the Mother Baby Nutrition Supplement , which helps with the cost of extra food during pregnancy and infancy for low income families with infants. Eligible families receive $60 a month with an additional one-time payment of $90 during the month of a child’s birth.

Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan also offer a Graduate Tax Credit and a Graduate Retention Program (GRP) respectively, which are available to residents living and working in the province who graduated from an eligible post-secondary program.  (Hey, maybe an extra incentive to start tightening the purse strings and encourage those kiddos to get out on their own after all!)

These are just a few of the many breaks that are available for families (or families to be!) across the country – and while there’s no one-size-fits all ‘best’ province, there are definite differences between them that may influence your choice of residence, depending on your needs.

Did you move to a specific province to take advantage of a specific family benefit?

My grandfather was an amazing carpenter. He could honestly build anything out of wood.  He could just look at a picture and re-create decks, furniture – you name it.  I remember watching him in his workshop, creating his masterpieces with dozens of different tools that I’d never even heard of before – reciprocating saw, rasps, even something called a cat’s paw.  It was a serious talent (and one that I clearly did not inherit).

Those tools must have cost a serious amount of money – but every great carpenter needs a great set of tools, right?  Which is why it’s good news for those just starting out that the Federal Government offers special tax savings for tradespersons, including the Tradesperson’s Tools Deduction.  This provides tradespersons like carpenters with an annual deduction of up to $500 to help defray the costs of eligible tools required to do their job.

Employers may even have more reason to hire a new grad if they’re an eligible Red Seal trade apprentice.  That’s because they can receive the Apprenticeship Job Creation Tax credit that’s equivalent to 10% of the employee’s salary, up to a maximum $2,000 per year, per apprentice.   There are dozens of trades currently listed as Red Seal trades, including carpenters.   And another benefit of becoming Red Seal certified?  The Red Seal is the only credential that grants a worker automatic recognition in each and every province and territory in Canada.

And let’s not forget about GST/HST rebates, either.  If these expenses are deducted from employment income, newly minted carpenters may be eligible for a full or partial rebate.

There are lots of other tax credits and deductions available at a provincial level too, so it’s important to check out websites like Trade Links, which details need to know information for tradespeople.  Combined with Turbo Tax software, tradespeople can feel confident they’re getting back every penny they deserve.

Learning to play the piano or some sort of instrument is a rite of passage for many kids.  I remember making the weekly trek to my lessons and then hammering out the same tunes over and over again each day after school until I got them right.  At the time, it seemed like a drag (and I’m sure my parents thought so too, not only because of the expense, but because they had to listen to countless error-filled sonatas).  But now that I’m older, I’ve realized that having some sort of musical skill really is valuable. I take pride in the fact that I can read and play music.  It’s like learning another language.

This is why it’s great that there’s now more incentive for parents to keep those lessons going into the teen years and beyond.  While there are some additional parameters in Vancouver, a 2007 court ruling now allows students studying practical or theoretical subjects at a Grade 9 level or above in a recognized curriculum like the Royal Conservatory of Music to claim their lesson and examination fees. Students taking post-secondary courses may also transfer up to $5000 per year to a parent. A person owing federal and provincial income tax can save approximately one-fifth of the expense claimed.

So what if your budding pianist ditches the piano for a hockey puck before they can claim virtuoso status? Well at least while they are taking lessons you won’t be paying tax on them.  Music lessons hold tax exempt status.   Plus, different provinces have additional perks, such as Ontario’s Children’s Activity Tax Credit (CATC) that allows parents to claim up to $500 of eligible expenses per child.

As part of the next phase of Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the federal government has also recently introduced the Children’s Arts Tax Credit. The credit will be available for a wide range of activities that are currently not eligible for the Children’s Fitness Tax Credit – including music lessons.  More on that in another post on the new Children’s Arts Tax Credit !

So while music lessons may be hard on the ears, there are lots of incentives that make them a bit easier on the wallet.  Have you taken advantage of any of them yet?

In Canada, tax rates vary from province to province which means where you live affects your final tax bill. Here is an infographic that compares income taxes in for each Canadian province.