You can deduct interest and carrying charges incurred to earn income from securities, bonds and other investments, if they are earning investment income. The requirement of earning income generally means that the investments should be paying interest or dividends.

• Children’s arts amount
• Volunteer firefighters’ amount
• Allowable amount of medical expenses for other dependants
• Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB)
• Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions
• Students tuition credit
• Investment tax credit
• Exploration and development expenses
• Split income of a child under 18

Please refer to the attached press release from the Canada Revenue Agency. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/ncm-tx/rtrn/cmpltng/whtsnw-eng.html

Please contact us to discuss how these changes will benefit you.

Are you a new resident of Canada? If yes, then you will find these tax tips very interesting.

My Account lets you obtain the information on your RRSP contribution limits, contribution requirements for the Home Buyers Plan and contribution requirements for the Lifelong Learning Plan.  You can also receive information on your Child Tax Benefits and your GST/HST payment information.

For more information on RRSP, visit http://www.cra.gc.ca/rrsp or log on to My Account at http://www.cra.gc.ca/myaccount.

Source: Canada Revenue Agency  http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/menu-eng.html

Also if your child is above the age of 18, they can be entitled to the GST/HST credit.  The only way your child can profit from this is to produce an income tax return.

For more information on payment dates and how the GST/HST credit is calculated, visit http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/bnfts/gsthst/fq_pymnts-eng.html

Source: Canada Revenue Agency  http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/menu-e.html

On a regular basis, we post Tax Tips and advice. We feel that it’s very important to keep all Canadians advised on their tax matters. Starting February 1, 2012 and continuing throughout the month of February, we will be posting one new tax tip daily!

Stay tuned and check back often!!!

When I first filed my tax return, I hired a professional to do it for me, which was incredibly convenient. On the other hand, I was the butt of jokes from many of my friends, who all do it online for minimal cost. Still, there’s much to be said for hiring a professional to complete your tax forms, especially if you have a family, own investments or run a business. Here are a few reasons you may want to hire a professional instead of going the DIY route. 

You’ll skip the hassle. 

I was raised in a family in which, if the possibility of having someone else complete a task was presented, we’d take it.  If you are a notorious procrastinator or if you’re already very busy with a job and kids, just suck it up and hire a tax professional. It’s almost completely painless and well worth the expense (which normally pays for itself!).

 You’ll make no mistakes.

There are two obvious goals of filing your taxes—to avoid trouble with the government and to maximize your return. Making mistakes when filing your taxes alone could get you in trouble, and could as well make you lose out on some money. Certified Professional Accountants know exactly what sort of deductions and claims you can make to get the full tax return that you deserve.

You have a complicated tax situation that necessitates professional help.

For some, their taxes may be so simple that filing it online is perhaps the best choice. At the same time, however, everyone’s situation is different, and yours may be so complicated that you’ll absolutely need a professional’s help. Hiring a tax professional is ideal if you are in business, if you are experiencing changes in your family situation (divorce, marriage, kids going to college, etc.) or if you wish to diversify your financial portfolio. All of these scenarios would make filing your taxes on your own particularly tricky.

You’re more likely to meet the deadline and avoid late fees.

When you hire a tax professional, he/she will keep you on task so that you turn everything in on time. If you want to avoid these horrendous fees as noted by the Canada Revenue Agency, then hire someone to avoid being late.

Alvina Lopez is a freelance writer and blog junkie, who blogs about accredited online colleges. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: alvina.lopez@gmail.com. 

What are the ways in which you can consolidate your business debts?

When you owe huge amount of business debt, you should educate yourself on the different ways in which you can eliminate this debt burden. There are some ways to do so and check them out.

• Commercial credit counseling: Just as a consumer credit counselor helps you get back a grip on your finances by following a budget and the personal finance management techniques, the consumer credit counselor will also assist the business organization in getting back in shape. He will assess your present financial state so that he gets an idea about where you’re standing financially. He may craft a frugal budget for you so that you can follow it and bring your debts under control. If they see that your debt amount is beyond your capability to repay, they may sign you up with a debt management program and help you in getting out of debt through single and affordable monthly payments.
• The debt consolidation loan: According to the Office of Consumer’s Affairs in Canada, the debtors has to calculate the total debt amount that he owes before meeting the loan officer who is supposed to give him the debt consolidation loan. Unless he knows the exact amount of debt that he owes, he can never take out the loan amount properly. You have to shop around in order to get a loan that best suits your needs and purposes.
• Business debt settlement: When you feel that you don’t have enough funds in order to repay your debt obligations, you can opt for business debt settlement. A portion of debts will be forgiven by the lenders and you have to repay an amount that is much less than what you actually owe on your accounts.

Therefore, when you have incurred huge amounts of business debts, you need not worry as there are ways in which you can get out of the same. Choose the option that best suits your affordability so that you can make the timely payments on the loans and protect your credit score.

Why save in the first place?

It’s a harrowing fact that most Canadians and their families are only a month or two away from complete financial ruin. Because daily expenses have become so exorbitant, many people are surviving paycheck to paycheck with absolutely no security. Steps must be taken to provide for the future. Utilizing techniques to save money can help to provide Canadians with the extra funds needed to

• Save for retirement
• Establish an emergency account
• Pad a ‘sinking fund’ for unexpected household or vehicle repairs

As thrilling as it is to ‘binge spend’ as a rebellion against economic crisis, one must think in terms of short and long term gains to be truly financially secure.

Start small, start now

A quick search online will reveal countless coupon sites devoted to providing consumers with deals on everyday items. Trusted sites such as www.save.ca, www.brandsaver.ca and http://www.gocoupons.ca gather coupons daily to keep their visitors current with upcoming local sales. You may wonder how a piece of paper promising a fifty-cent discount can be of any help. Like anything else, there’s an art to it.

The inside scoop on ‘stacking’

“We found out there was a difference between manufacturer coupons and store coupons,” A Canadian stay at home mom confided. “ You know those flyers you always ignore? We started clipping them, saving them and then waiting for the stuff we needed to go on sale at the store. We ended up getting a tube of toothpaste for like, ten cents.” Stacking coupons is an excellent way to start seeing a tangible difference in your expenses, particularly if you purchase large quantities of household essentials at one time. Whereas our stay-at-home mom might have spent up to 30 dollars on toothpaste over a period of six months, acting wisely and ‘couponing’ during a store sale cost her approximately 5 dollars for a half a year supply. That kind of smart shopping pays off, allowing more freedom in your budget to focus on saving.

Never pay full price – ever

The few moments it takes to do some research before spending must become a habit. Making use of coupons, both virtual and paper, is certainly effective, what about those purchases for which coupons don’t apply? Be frugal minded and stop to look for sales before splurging. Flyers are the more traditional way to discover the deals around you but the Canadian website www.redflagdeals.com offers a more convenient and practical way to do your research. Like the aforementioned coupon sites, redflagdeals.com collects information on current and upcoming sales in your area. After entering either your postal code or search terms, the site will direct you to a list of merchants in your area offering in-store deals. In addition, the site content goes beyond typical consumer products to other expenses such as banking fees or insurance rates. It even offers a price comparison tool that searches your area for the best deal on a chosen product, saving you money and legwork.

Think Thrift

It may be time to consider shopping second hand. Most Canadian cities have at least one thrift store offering clothing, household necessities and appliances. Rather than stuffing landfills, many people are also deciding to give their items away through sites like www.freecycle.org. A fascinating cultural phenomenon, freecycle is comprised of over 5,000 individual groups with the numbers growing monthly. Interested people simply contact each other via the site to exchange or donate items on a first come first served basis. Getting a new washing machine for free rather than going into debt for a hundreds of dollars or more is something any cautious consumer should be proud of.

These days, driving a gas-guzzling Hummer is more likely to get you laughed at than admired as paying full price for anything has become a source of embarrassment. Luckily, the high price of living has caused concerned Canadians to create a wealth of resources to help save money. Be clever with your finances by taking advantage of these services to get you and your family out of your own economic crisis.

This post was written by James Lander, a self-proclaimed coupon expert. Lander also frequently contributes to couponing site, Couponing.

Now, more than ever it’s extremely important to seek professional advice and take advantage of all possible tax deductions available to you.

For more information on the various tax increases, please watch this short video.