Hello everyone! 

It's February and there are several days that you may be celebrating or want to take notice of for this month:
- Feb 10: Chinese New Year day
- Feb 14:  Valentine's day
- Feb 19: Family day (BC)
- Feb 19: The first day we can e-file 2023 tax return. CRA's (Canada Revenue Agency) system will open at 8:30am (Eastern Time).
- Feb 29 - RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan) contribution deadline, since 2024 is a leap year.
Which day/s is/are important to you? 

2024 Tax Season is coming up soon. Here are tips for this month.
1. Some other dates to take note of, relating to your 2023 Canadian taxes.
- Apr 30: Deadline to file your 2023 tax return, unless you or your spouse are self-employed.
- June 17: Deadline for self-employed taxpayers and their spouses/common-law partners to file their 2023 tax returns. Normally the deadline is June 15th. However, since June 15th falls on a Saturday this year, the deadline is pushed to the next business day, which is Monday, June 17th. So you have 2 extra days this year. :) 
I don't recommend you wait until the last minute though; file your taxes as soon as you can, especially if you have a refund. If you have balance owing, it is due on April 30th, even if your tax due date is June 17th.

2. Do you have extra money that you don't need until retirement? Are you in a high tax bracket? You can park your extra money in your RRSP. How much can you contribute to your RRSP? Check your latest NOA (Notice of Assessment). If you took out money from your Home Buyers Plan and you have to pay it back for 2023 tax year, don't forget to contribute that minimum amount. Otherwise, it will be considered income (as if you withdrew the amount from your RRSP). If you would like to know how much you should contribute to your RRSP, you can enter your information in a tax software and play around with different RRSP contribution amounts to see how much less in tax payable or how much more refund you'll be getting. You can also book a time with me to do a rough draft of your 2023 taxes to see how much RRSP you need to contribute before the Feb 29th deadline. Here is my calendar: EFFIE'S AVAILABILITY

3. Did you know that in Canada there is no filing jointly? Couples may have their files linked together in a software to maximize deductions and tax credits, but each person must file his/her own taxes. 

4a. If you would like to learn more about your taxes, here is CRA's website: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/educational-programs.html

4b. Did you know that CRA provides free webinars and you can watch past webinars as well? Here is a link for CRA's upcoming events: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/taxes/income-tax/personal-income-tax/help-others/outreach/upcoming-events-products.html

4c. If your tax situation is simple and your income is not high, you may qualify for a free service at your local tax clinics. Book now because they filled up quickly. Here is CRA's website to read more about getting free tax help: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/campaigns/free-tax-help.html

Finally, if you need help with your taxes, I offer:

1. Full tax preparation service // I do your taxes for you. Fee estimate is provided and it usually includes 20 minutes of assistance if you are assessed by CRA. You must let me know when you need my assistance because I do not monitor your account. Fee starts at $85 + GST.
2. Review service // You prepare your taxes, I review it before you submit your return. Fee is $150 + GST with a minimum of 30-minute booking and 15-minute increment afterwards. You may also want to consider using Turbo Tax and purchasing their Assist & Review program where they can check your returns before you file them. Here is their link if you would like to check it out: https://turbotax.intuit.ca/tax/software/assist-review and https://turbotax.intuit.ca/tax/software/online
3. Tutoring service // I teach you how to do your taxes. Fee is $150 + GST with a minimum of 30-minute booking and 15-minute increment afterwards. This service is not available during March and April.

That's all for February. Thank you for reading. If you are on social media, follow me on YouTube   Instagram   Facebook   LinkedIn   X 

Have a great month!

Happy New Year! I hope you had a great Christmas and holiday season with your family and friends.

Beginning of the year is when my website gets a lot of visits. It seems like many people are eager to improve their finances. Perhaps it’s time to do some financial tidying up. There are so many different areas such as day to day finance, insurance, debts, estate planning, investing, etc.

Here are a few tips for now.
1. If you received a raise, consider:
- increasing your giving, saving & investing, but
- keep the same standard of living (there may be increased cost of living due to inflation).

2. Track your spending, do a budget, continue tracking your spending. Investing more money with lower returns yields better results than investing little money with higher returns. See Preet Banerjee’s YouTube: 
https://youtu.be/ugLJm9fU1nw?si=0eAirpgi110_O_7U

3. If you have not done so, now is a good time to take inventory of all your finances. Make an emergency folder that contains your:
- bank accounts 
- credit cards
- debts, including mortgage 
- life, long-term disability and any insurance
- pension
You can also add other important information into your emergency folder such as your:
- Social Insurance Number
- health card number
- name and contact information of your lawyer, accountant, financial advisor and any other professionals you have.

4. Perhaps you already know that the 2024 TFSA contribution room is $7000. You can save your emergency fund there or invest it. Here is breaking it down into bite size pieces:
- You can set aside $26/day x 5 days/week x 52 weeks = $6760.
- Or you can set aside $125/week & put $500 at the beginning of the year. 
- If you would like to invest and have a lump sum, it’s better to invest it all at once. 
But first, ensure you have emergency funds. 
If you didn’t max out previous years’ contributions or if you withdrew your TFSA in previous years, you have more than $7000 to contribute. 

That’s all for January. Let’s take better care of our finances this year. A small improvement is better than none.

Have a great month! :)