What to expect when you are expecting a tax refund

Tax returns aren’t due for most people until the end of April, but every year around this time we get asked, “Do I have all of my tax slips?” or “Which tax slips should I be expecting?” To answer some of these questions, we’ve put together a handy guide to help with that.

Chasing down all the slips needed to file a return is often a huge pain. Fortunately, the Canada Revenue Agency (the CRA) now offers tax preparers the ability to download many of their required slips directly from them. However, the onus is still on the individual to file accurately, even if they don’t get the slips. It is up to the individual to know what they should be expecting.

“But so that we may not cause offense… give it to them for my tax and yours.”

Jesus

Obviously self-employed individuals have much more that they need to track, but for most employees and retirees the summary below will suffice.

With the exception of T3s and T5013s, firms are required to send you tax slips by the end of February, so you should expect to receive your slips by early March (but often sooner than that). Keep in mind, this can include electronic copies of these slips, so check your email in addition to your mailbox.

Since we mostly deal with financial accounts in our office, I’ll go over the slips by account type to start.

RRSP or SPRSP

• T4RSP if there were any withdrawals

• RRSP contribution receipts

     o One receipt if there were any deposits from March to 

         December of last year

AND/OR

     o One receipt (or more if there were multiple deposits)

         for the first 60 days of this year.

RRIF

• T4RIF if there were any withdrawals .

     o Withdrawals are mandatory in the year following the

         account opening.

LIF

• T4LIF if there were any withdrawals

     o Withdrawals are mandatory in the year following the

         account opening.

LIRA

• T4RSP if there were any withdrawals

RESP or RDSP

• T4A if there were any withdrawals of grant or growth

TFSA

• Nothing

Open accounts (also known as a cash accounts or non-registered accounts)

• T3 if there were distributions in a trust even if they were immediately reinvested, which is common with mutual fund dividends.

• T5 if there were distributions in a corporate class even if they were immediately reinvested, which is common with mutual fund dividends.

• T5008 if there were any switches, redemptions, rebalancing, etc.

     o This is often included with the year-end statement

          from the fund company.

• Fee summary if you hold fee-based F-class shares.

    o These are also usually included with the year-end

         statement from the fund company.

Leveraged accounts (Borrowing money for the purpose of investing to earn income)

• Summary of interest charges

    o These should be provided by your lender, probably

        along with a statement or summary.

Flow-through limited partnerships

• T5013

Bank accounts or other open interest-bearing accounts

• T3 to report interest, dividends, and capital gains

Now that we’ve covered investment accounts, some other common slips include:

Income (or T) slips

• From your employer

     o T4

• From your pensions

     o T4A

• From OAS

     o T4A(OAS)

• From CPP

     o T4(CPP)

Donations

• Charitable receipts

• See my article from last May (https://lightmagazine.ca/2022/05/17/charitable-giving/) on how much these receipts are worth to you. With so many charities issuing receipts online or by email, I worry that many are falling through the cracks. Make sure you collect them all.

We’ve compiled a handy cheat sheet with most of this information at www.visionvest.ca/resources.

Keep in mind, with deductions such as advisory fees, interest charges on investment loans, and charitable receipts, the CRA does not get a copy directly from the institute. If you don’t provide these supplementary documents to your tax preparer, they will likely be missed.

And on that note, because many people file their taxes online and aren’t required to send in receipts, it is very common for the CRA to ask for a copy of them long after you’ve filed. For this reason, keep your additional receipts and statements relatively accessible.

Now, this list is not meant to be exhaustive. There are so many possible financial scenarios that we just can’t cover them all. This list should be a good starting point for the majority of our readers, but if you’re unsure about what you’ll need this year, talk to your tax preparer.

Happy filing!

Arnold Machel, CFP® lives, works, and worships in the White Rock/South Surrey area. He is a Certified Financial Planner with IPC Investment Corporation and Visionvest Financial Planning & Services. In 2022 he was named as one of BCs Top Wealth Advisors by The Globe & Mail, and Visionvest (his firm) has been voted Best Investment/Financial Advisor by Peace Arch News readers for the past two years in a row. 

Questions and comments can be directed to him at dr.rrsp@visionvest.ca or through his website at www.visionvest.ca. Please note that all comments are of a general nature and should not be relied upon as individual advice. The views and opinions expressed in this commentary may not necessarily reflect those of IPC Investment Corporation. While every attempt is made to ensure accuracy, facts and figures are not guaranteed.