It’s late April, and that means that the 2025 tax-filing deadline — that is the deadline to file your taxes for the 2024 tax year — is fast approaching. On April 30, conventionally employed Canadians will need to have their taxes filed or else face late-filing fees. For self-employed Canadians, the deadline is June 15 — later because self-employed tax returns are more complex than those of the conventionally employed.
If you have a regular nine-to-five job, then you have just two more days in which to file your taxes. That’s not a lot of time if you haven’t even started yet, but you can still get your return in on time. In this article, I will share three tips for getting your taxes in before the deadline at this late stage in the game.
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Tip #1: Collect all your receipts
Most likely, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) already has access to much of your earnings information, as your employer remits taxes to them. What it doesn’t have a clue about is your expenses. You need receipts to prove these. Common deductible and creditable expenses that you should have your receipts for include the following:
- Donations
- Tuition
- Student loan interest
- Work-related travel
- Medical expenses
- And more
The list of expenses that you can net against your income is really too long to list in this article. Head to the CRA website to get an exhaustive list and then scour your email and your home for receipts that seem relevant.
Tip #2: Download tax-filing software
It takes some skill to fill out a tax form by hand. It’s not exactly a college-level course, but it’s something you might not be able to learn in two days. So, download tax-filing software. Even if it costs money, it will streamline everything for you by turning filing into a streamlined interview-like process.
Tip #3: Hire a professional
Last but not least, if you really want to get your taxes done quickly, you might want to hire a professional. The people at companies like H&R Block are very experienced with filing taxes and can usually get them done in a day. So, if you are really in a pinch, consider hiring one of these companies.
A word on investments
It’s important to remember that you need to report investment income on your tax returns. This is easy to overlook, but if you don’t do it, you may end up owing back taxes.
Let’s say you owned a $100,000 position in Fortis (TSX:FTS) at the beginning of 2024. The stock paid a $2.46 dividend over the course of 2024 and cost $55.64 at the start of it. So, you earned a 4.4% yield. If you sold the Fortis shares right before the end of the year you would have also realized a 9% capital gain. That’s about a 13.4% total return. The taxes on that could be quite substantial, and the more years you go without paying them, the more you’ll have to ultimately pay when the CRA catches up with you. So, always report your investment income and pay the taxes on it. You’ll thank me later.
