Checklist before filing your tax return

CloudTax wants you to get every deduction and tax credit you are entitled to. So, before getting started on your tax return, get all the income records and receipts together. Here’s a checklist for before filing your tax return.

Canadian Individual Taxpayer Checklist before filing your tax return
 T4 slips (for employment income)
 Employment insurance (EI) benefits (form T4E)
 Interest, dividends and mutual funds (forms T3, T5, T5008)
 Tuition and education receipts (form T2202A)
 Universal Child Care Benefit (form RC62)
 CPP Benefits and Old Age Security (Forms T4AP and T4A-OAS)
 Other pensions or annuities (form T4A)
 Social assistance payments (form T5007)
 Workers’ compensation benefits (form T5007)
 Other information slips

Receipts
 RRSP contribution receipts
 Support for a child, spouse or common-law partner
 Professional and union dues
 Tools expense (for Tradespersons and apprentice mechanics)
 Medical expenses
 Transit passes (receipts)
 Charitable donation receipts
 Political contribution receipts
 Childcare expense receipts
 Adoption expense receipts
 Arts and sports programs for children
 Moving expenses
 Interest on student loans
 Carrying charges or interest expenses
 Home Office expenses
 Professional certification exams

Other documentation
 NOA (Notice of Assessment/Reassessment)
 Any previous CRA correspondence
 Sales or deemed sales of stocks, bonds or real estate
 Receipts for Northern resident deductions
 Rental income and expenses
 Business, farm and fishing income and expenses
 Automobile Travel logbook and expense receipts
 Disability Tax Credit Certificate
 Declaration of Conditions of Employment (form T2200)
 Volunteer Firefighter certification
 Search and Rescue volunteer certification
 Custody Arrangements documentation

When it’s time to prepare your Canadian personal tax return, the details can be overwhelming. And, create problems to delay your tax refund. So, using CloudTax to keep track of all your detailed information makes it all easier. Then, you organize your paperwork and use this checklist to ensure you have everything ready to get started.

Personal Information Checklist before filing your tax return

If you changed your marital status, your name or you moved since filing last year, first update that information with CRA. Make the changes instantly online in your CRA MyAccount. Some changes, like changing both your first and last names at the same time, mean you must contact CRA directly.

Have the following close by (NOTE: next year CloudTax will carry-forward the information for you)
• Social Insurance Numbers
• Dates of birth for every family member
• Net income amounts for anyone you claim credits like the Canada Caregiver Amount, and others which CloudTax oversees for you.
• Instalment payments
• Notice of Assessments from last year

If you have unused losses or credits to apply, have last year’s return and your NOA handy.

CloudTax saves your progress as you go along. So, if you do need to find some paperwork, you can come back to complete your taxes. Get every deduction and tax credit you are entitled to. But before you begin working on your tax return, use this checklist before filing your tax return.

Nimalan Balachandran

Nimalan Balachandran is the Founder & CEO of CloudTax, an income tax filing platform, certified by the Canada Revenue Agency, that allows simple tax filers to file their taxes from home. He was a former employee at the Canada Revenue Agency, and has been in the tax preparation industry for over 10 years. His goal was to bring his passion for technology and assisting Canadians in minimizing their taxes together, by building new software that allows Canadian residents to file simple taxes on their own. Along with his background in accounting, finance, artificial intelligence & business strategy from Seneca College and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Nimalan has also worked as a Financial Advisor at Sun Life Financials. Nimalan also co-founded a not-for-profit organization, ATI Foundation, serving individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities in the Greater Toronto Area.