Following on from my thread earlier about taxes - has anyone used H and R Block for preparing their tax return?

I've tried QuickTax and H and R Block's online offerings, but I'm not feeling confident about doing the return myself.... We was here for 3 months of 2008, so I have 9 months of UK income to represent, have a house back in the UK which we're renting out and I work from home here. The wife doesn't work, so should be able to get some kind of credit for her tax free share - yet I thought my employer was crediting this at source...

Both came back with a refund of $5k I'm a bit nervous about claiming this and then it being wrong and subsequently getting shafted!

If H&R Block can do it, you can do it. Either ask a proper accountant, JonboyE might be convenient, or do it yourself.

I guess they just ask the same questions as the software would ask you? And you still have to give the answers....

Indeed. They're not about to say "have you considered this grey area, subject to your risk tolerance it might be worth pursing". They're just following a script.

We've used them for the last 3 years, and although we could have done it ourselves we had the peace of mind that if you get audited , they sort it out for you. Saved an awful lot of stress last year when Revenue Canada took offense at us claiming tax already paid on foreign income.

TBH, I just want to get it filled in with the minimal amount of grief - I'm not sure I'll even bother with claiming stuff like the use of a room as a home office (reference your earlier comments about this being a favourite for shafting people on an audit).

I can't see how I'm due $5k back though - that'll mean I'll have paid no tax in 2008

This is the kind of thing I'm worried about....

How much did H&R Block charge?

I want both the minimum grief and the minimum taxes. I was audited, a "go to them" audit rather than the 3rd degree "come to you" audit but still, I was pleased to have an accountant to deal with it, rather than having to try to find my tax filer.

Quick question - If I landed here on 10th Dec and havent been working - do I need to do a tax return?/ and if hubby landed on 15th Nov and is working for a uk company does he have to do one??

You only have to file a tax return if you owe tax - you are unlikely to, unless you earned income in other ways other than employment.

Your hubby will have to file a tax return if he is considered a resident for tax purposes. In Canada you are taxed on your worldwide income, where that income comes from in the world is irrelevant (other than if it came from a country that has a tax treaty with Canada and "foreign" tax was paid on it).

If neither of you file a tax return, you are likely to find that you will not be able to claim certain "child benefits" as these are based on the previous year's tax return.

ooooooooh ok! hmm -will let him sort it!!

We tend to use Liberty Tax - the one time we used H&R block we got very little back - about half of what we usually get.

Getting tax back means you paid too much and gave the govt. an interest free loan. It may or may not be anything to do with the tax preparer. Saying that, we used a tax preparer when we first moved over. I found a mistake they made and had to fight them to get them to cover the interest on what we owed, which they eventually did. Personally I would sooner owe at the end of the tax year, then I got an interest free loan.

Now use an accountant and am quite satisfied.

I do realise that but we found with H&R Block, you just drop off your T4's leave it with them and off you go, with the guy we use now we sit and chat and the whole time he is asking questions to find out if we have spent money on stuff we might not as a new tax person known we could have claimed for - i.e. summer camps.

I know we're in a minority, not having an income high enough to pay tax, but QuickTaxWeb on-line copes admirably with our situation which includes foreign income and rental income. And it's free because of the "low" income.

I especially like how you can input medical costs and it identifies that there is no need to claim them "now" as you are short of the level at which tax is due but that they can be 'banked' and claimed in a later year should income in a later year rise to the point one does become liable for tax.

It's by no means only for 'simple' tax returns.