How does using a different tax company help, if they use the same format, in regarding getting more money on your return???

It must be where you live that you can claim rent because in Alberta you can't, doesn't seem to be anything you can claim much..........

On the paying part I got fedup with that so I get the company I work for to take extra off my cheque and now I get money back, I like H&R for the buy back or what ever it's called and you have the option to have them cut you chq there on the spot, or wait 10 days for the tax man to send you the money, either way I have done them both. I haven't found anything wrong with H&R, I use the same person every year maybe that help some.

I think you will find the poster you quoted said that the program they used allowed them to input rental income (not rent paid as your reply suggested).

Each year I use QuickTax which works perfectly for me and my wife's business. Our situation isn't complicated enough to warrant paying an accountant at this point and I refuse to pay the likes of H & R to do what we can do ourselves.

As I recall we paid about $175 per return. I don't think that this was a fixed fee, but was a little more because of some of some non standard issues.

Personally, we felt it was money well spent for the first year so that we cleanly entered the Canadian tax system. Give them any supporting documents for foreign income, exchange rates, etc and they sort it out if Revenue Canada don't like it.

Thanks for telling me about that my mistake, with quicktax you buy the CD and print it off on the printer right and you would have to send it in to Canada revenue?

If it's your first return, yes, if it's not, then I think you can send it electronically.

You don't have to buy the CD, they have web versions which you can try for free and then only pay when you're happy and want to print the form - this is what I've been doing.

up until we moved to USA last year we used H & R block, we were very happy with them.

Now that hubby has USA business, and we are resident in Canada, we use a guy in USA who does International taxes- he also does for UK/USA/Canada!!!

We used to use Quick Tax until they lowered the a number returns you could do per copy a number of years ago. They have since gone back to the old number I understand.

We now use UFile it's only $19.99 if you purchase it at places like Future Shop or Best Buy and does just as well as Quick Tax.

Strangely it's more expensive if you purchase it on line.

My opinion too.

I understand that some people have a tax return phobia but, this aside, QuickTax and QuickTaxWeb can do everything most people need. I have used these products to do my own, and many other people's returns for years. As BristolUK says above, you can build some complex returns with them if necessary.

If you are self-employed or a shareholder of an owner managed business then you should see an accountant. If you are an employee then in 99% of circumstances a product such as QuickTax is all you need.

I now use some professional software. It costs waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than QuickTax and is much less intuitive to use. It does, however, have the advantage that it prints an invoice every time I file someone's return.

But with these CD's you buy, you can E tax with them can you?

So send it in by the conventional way snail mail, after printing off.

If you are self-employed you really should do this as you can off-set quite a lot of household expenses against tax.

As an employee it is much more limited. If you have a willing employer who will sign a form T2200 you can claim a portion of electricity, heating, and maintenance costs (but not mortgage interest and taxes) if either:

1) The work space is where you mainly (more than 50% of the time) do your work; or

2) You use the work space only to earn your employment income and you also have to use it on a regular and continuous basis for meeting clients or customers.

Setting your laptop up on the kitchen table on snow days does not count.

Have a look down the list on the T2200. The most common deductions employees make are for the use of a car, cell phone, office supplies and tools.

Yes. First time filers must mail in a paper copy but, with very few exceptions, you can subsequently file over the internet. It is the same if you use a product on a CD or the online version.

For you? No, you don't need to file a return but it is a good idea because it gets you into the system and will make it much easier to claim means tested benefits.

For your OH? He must file a tax return if he owes tax and how will he know until he has completed his return? It is a good idea to file for the reason stated above and to build up RRSP contribution room.

Sorry if these sound rather silly questions, but never used these things before, they ask you to put this figure (Moneys) in line so and so etc. is it like that, and then it figures it all out at the end, wither you get anything back??

What one could do is look at a past tax return and see how it works that should be information enough I suppose??

Funnily enough, my T2200 arrived today - number 1) applies to me, I'm permanently based at home. I'm not sure I'll bother with it though, since it was only 3 months worth and I'm already sweating with working out the other stuff!

I have not used U-File or any of the others so can only speak for QuickTax. You chose to enter the information using the "forms" or the "interview" method.

With the "forms" method you enter the money amounts directly onto electronic versions of the actual tax forms. It is quicker but requires quite a bit more knowledge and experience. You'll probably find you use this method after a couple of years filing.

If you use the "interview" method the program will ask you a series of questions and you answer and enter money amounts as appropriate. The program keeps a running total of what you owe/are due a refund. When you are finished it sorts all the information into a file you can print or transmit over the internet to the CRA.