2025 Tax Season is (almost) here!

Photo by StellrWeb on Unsplash

Happy February! I feel like January just flew by. In case you haven’t heard, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has been in the news a few times since my last newsletter in December. 
Here are two of them:

• “The CRA is administering the extension for 2024 charitable donations.” You have the option of including your January 1 to February 28, 2025 donations in your 2024 tax return. If you do not have enough taxable income to absorb the donation tax credit, you can carry-forward the credit up to 5 years.

• Back in early June 2024, "Budget 2024 announced an increase in the capital gains inclusion rate from one half to two thirds for corporations and trusts, and from one half to two thirds on the portion of capital gains realized in the year that exceed $250,000 for individuals, for capital gains realized on or after June 25, 2024." However, on January 31, 2025, there was news that "all capital gains realized before January 1, 2026 will be subject to the currently enacted inclusion rate of one-half, unless an exemption applies.

CRA is now preparing its system for the 2025 tax season. Here are some key dates:

• February 24, 2025: The first day you can file your 2024 tax return online.
• ​April 30, 2025: Deadline to file your 2024 tax return for most people and deadline to pay taxes owing.
• June 16, 2025: Deadline to file 2024 tax return for self-employed individuals and their spouse/common-law partners. Remember that amount owing is due April 30. You can overestimate the amount and pay it on April 30, then claim the difference back as a refund.

One question that I get asked often is how much I charge for preparing a tax return. The answer? It depends. 😅 Simple tax returns cost less than complex ones. I would be happy to do a tax interview with you, then send you a quote. Generally my price includes 30 minutes of assistance if you are assessed by CRA.
If you would like to know my process (step-by-step), send me an email and I will send it to you. I would like to keep this bi-monthly newsletter relatively short.

I prioritize returning clients. Let me know if there are changes in your tax situation such as getting married, having a baby, moving to a new province, etc. I would appreciate it if you could gather your data as early as possible and let me know as soon as your data is complete. It would be more effective for me to work on your file in one go once all the information is complete, rather than working on your file multiple times as information trickles in. 

Disclosure:
I am not an accountant or a CPA (Chartered Professional Accountant), but a Tax Professional. I have been helping individuals with tax preparation service since 2013. Here are interesting facts that perhaps you know already
-  Not all accountants are CPA’s.
-  Not all CPA’s do taxes.
-  Not all accountants do taxes.
I’m not an accountant or a CPA, but I do taxes. 🙂

OK, that’s all for now. Thank you for reading my newsletter. I appreciate your time. 


Sources:
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/charities-giving/giving-charity-information-donors.html
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/about-your-tax-return/tax-return/completing-a-tax-return/deductions-credits-expenses/line-34900-donations-gifts.html
https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2024/06/capital-gains-inclusion-rate.html
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/news/newsroom/tax-tips/tax-tips-2025/update-cra-administration-proposed-capital-gains-taxation-changes.html
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/news/newsroom/tax-tips/tax-tips-2025/stress-free-filing-starts-now-here-are-five-easy-ways-help-you-get-ready-for-tax-season.html
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