File your taxes for FREE!

It’s that time of year again. The sun is starting to shine, birds are chirping and the dreaded tax man is coming to collect what is owed. For those who get a refund, tax time can be a joy but for the many others who have a tax bill to pay, it can be a frustrating experience. Not only can the tax bill hurt, but paying for your taxes to be filed or the software is like adding insult to injury! To help lighten the bill, we have outlined three free tax programs approved by the CRA:

StudioTax:

This product is available for Windows and Mac users and is free! The program should be able to handle most of the average Canadians filing needs with the only restriction being form T1273 STATEMENT A. StudioTax is not new to the game either, being in existence for 11 years now.

TurboTax Free Forms:

TurboTax is probably a name most individuals are familiar with. This program has a few more restrictions such as only being supported on Windows and excludes the province of Quebec. TurboTax Free Forms also does not support Form T1273 – Agristability and Form T1135 – Foreign Income Verification. On the plus side, this program looks to have the most user-friendly interface and may be best suited to those who are less comfortable with navigating computer programs.

GenuTax:

GenuTax allows you to file past tax returns from 2003 to present for no charge. The program is offered only for Windows and also does not support Form T1273 and T1135. This program offers an interview process that walks you through your situation to try to understand different forms that you should or could be filing.

After filing, those who get a tax refund need to determine what to do with it. While it is often tempting to treat the extra amounts as a ‘bonus’ and using the funds to splurge,  MoneySavers could also redeposit it into an RRSP to allow a further deferral of taxes down the road as well as some potential growth through it being invested.

And on another note:   

CMS on CBB:

Canadian MoneySaver was featured on Canadian Budget Binder last weekthrough the weekly ‘MAD’ feature. CBB is featuring interesting Canadian blogs on a weekly basis while also showcasing reader ‘budget brags’ and many other personal finance topics. Pop on over to Canadian Budget Binder to check it out.