Monday, April 30, 2012. The date slowly creeps closer for Canadians to file their individual income tax returns for 2011.
As the end of February draws nearer, your T4 slips that have been sent out by any of your employers from 2011 are making their way through the postal system to your house. By law, your employer is required to have them mailed to your house by the last day of February in order for you to prepare and file your 2011 income taxes on time.
Personal income tax packages can be obtained online by downloading and printing a package or if you don’t have a printer you can order a printed package online. You can also order a package by phoning 1-800-959-2221 (only in Canada during the government office business hours) or you can find the packages at most post offices, service Canada offices or income tax offices. These tax packages are always free of charge and will only cost you the price of a stamp to send. However, sending your completed income tax forms back through the mail is very time consuming. You have to make sure that the information is correct, complete and everything is included. Once received, the government will process it and send you a cheque in the mail.
You’ll also notice that throughout the beginning months of the calendar year, new tax preparation stores tend to pop up locally to assist in filing your taxes for you. The charge for their tax preparation services range in price depending on how much work they need to do with your taxes and they will take care of sending your taxes to the government for you. The appeal that these stores have is that most of them will offer you a rebate cheque right on the spot. However, they can be time consuming and are found to be personally invasive. It is entirely up to you if you chose to send your completed taxes in the mail or use a store to file for you. Another option that you have is to file electronically.
Filing electronically is the fastest, most efficient way to get your taxes done. Not to mention, the easiest way as well. For under $100, you can buy a tax preparation program to prepare your taxes. Along with your e-file access code and the internet, from the comfort of your own home, your taxes are sent directly to the government through NETFILE.
NETFILE is the Government of Canada’s electronic filing system. Filing this way, submits your taxes directly to the government tax centres for processing. A huge benefit of using this service is that if you’re owed a refund, and you have your banking information on government file, your refund can be deposited directly into your bank account in as little as 8 business days!
Any way that you do choose to file, just make sure that your 2011 individual tax returns are filed by the April 30th, 2012 deadline to avoid any penalties.
