It was a rainy day getting to the studio this morning. But as usual everything went smoothly and I got to meet interesting guests. Today on air I talked about filing taxes online here in Canada and how people can save money by doing so. At the same time, this year the government is trying to make it easier by eliminating a process where individuals were required to have a “web access” code to file a return in opes to encourage more people to file their taxes online.
I have read various comments too where some people prefer to use the traditional paper method as they find it unfair that they now have to pay money for software in order to file their returns. That isn’t entirely true as there are a lot of free options out there. For example, I know here most people may be familiar with products such as Ufile or Turbo Tax where these software can range anywhere from $9+. It was apparent to me that most people are unaware that these same companies offer people the ability to file for free such as if you make say less than $20,000 and have a basic tax return. Here are some examples of the free filing options that these two companies offer:
http://www.drtax.ca/en/UFile/tips-and-tools/UFilefreefiling.aspx
http://turbotax.intuit.ca/tax-software/freedom.jsp
Despite this I have heard some people are still unhappy with this as they mention how they don’t qualify to use these products for free. There are still options for you as well. For example, there is a program called StudioTax that you can see at http://studiotax.com/en/ which allows people to file taxes for free online regardless of your income level. So there are definitely options out there.
As well, the last point I talked about is how you can manage your tax information online as opposed to the traditional paper route if you are trying to say setup a direct deposit so that you ca get your refund faster. You can find the site at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/esrvc-srvce/tx/ndvdls/myccnt/menu-eng.html Best of all, it is free as well. All in all, it’s not that intimidating once you try it out.