April 2024 Prudent Money Coach Tax and Money Tips

Photo by Sander Sammy on Unsplash

Hello everyone! 2024 Tax Season will soon be over. Have you filed your tax return? I have and what a relief! This is true even for myself, as someone who has been doing tax returns for more than 11 tax seasons - it is still a chore and it is now off my task list. :) 

If you are thinking of hiring someone to file your taxes, make the booking now and provide your documents as soon as possible. Time is running out. If you have a refund, it's technically ok to file late. If you have balance owing, you should file by the deadline - April 30, 2024.  If you or your spouse are self-employed, your deadline is June 17, 2024 for your 2023 tax return. Remember that balance owing is due April 30, 2024 regardless of your tax filing deadline.

Here are tips for April
1a. Please gather all your receipts before you start working on your tax return. The same applies if you hire someone else to work on your tax return. It would be easier and more efficient to do your tax return in one sitting than to keep re-visiting your tax return because you missed one or two documents.

1b. When you are done with your tax return, don't throw away your receipts and documents. You must keep them for at least 6 years. If you have receipts on thermal paper, scan or photocopy them so they are still legible a few years from now. You can choose to scan and store electronic copy. Remember that CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) has 3 years from the time you file your tax return to assess your tax return. They may ask you to send in receipts to support claims as reported in your tax return. 

2. After you have filed your tax return, you should receive NOA (Notice of Assessment). Keep it in a safe place. If you receive a letter requesting information, please respond within the time period as written in the letter. Do not ignore the letter.

3a. Here is a common question I received this tax season. Can I still claim the $2/day work from home deduction? The answer is no. The $2/day was for Covid time period. We are now back to the detailed home office expense deduction. You would need a T2200 form from your employer in order to claim home office expenses.

3b. New for 2023 tax return: For those who are in BC, renting and have combined annual household income under $80,000, don't forget to claim BC Renter's Tax Credit by filling out form BC479 page 3. Check out this link for other BC tax credits.
For Ontario tax credits, check out ON tax credits.

4. When you login to your My Account, don't forget to check the Uncashed Cheque section. You may have "newly found" money there. :) If you have a tax representative, he/she can check it for you too. To claim the Uncashed Cheque, you would need to login to your My Account, fill out a form, and submit the form directly to CRA. 

5. Beware of fake Prudent Money Coach social media accounts! Earlier this week, a friend asked if my Instagram account was hacked because she received a follow request from a new account. This is the second time I was informed of a fake account. Back in September 2023, one of my clients messaged me asking if my Instagram account was hacked. It wasn't! The fake account claimed that my old account was hacked and asked everyone to follow the "new account." Please be careful.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone who trusted me with their tax filings. A few of you have asked if you could leave me a review. Thank you very much! I have to admit that I'm still searching for the best place to ask clients to leave a review. For now, I have a page on my website to display testimonials, under Services. Also, a few clients and an individual I met at networking events actually left me reviews on my business Facebook page. If you know of the best place where clients can leave reviews for me, please let me know. Thank you. :)

That's all for April. Have a great month!