2019 Canadian personal income tax filing survey results

The results are in! For almost 3 weeks in April 2019, HighInterestSavings.ca ran an online survey of how 201 people file their personal income taxes in Canada.

Have you filed your taxes yet?

15% of respondents wait until the last week in April to file their taxes. 1.5% file in February, while another 1.5% file in May or June. Naturally, the bulk of people file in March (36%) or April (61%). You are average if you file on April 4, whereas the median is roughly the same on April 5.

Who files your taxes?

81% of respondents do their taxes themselves, and of that number, 68% of them believe their tax return is “simple”. 14% of respondents use a tax professional, and of them, 41% rate their tax return as “simple” while the other 59% rate their tax return as “complex”. If you have a family member who does your taxes for free, count yourself as the lucky 4%, or feel guilty that you’re not the 1/201 respondents who said they pay a family member.

How much do you pay to do your taxes?

48% of respondents pay nothing at all, either to someone else or for software. People who pay someone else average $275, although this drops to just under $100 for a self-rated “simple” return. If people pay for software, including donations, the average cost is $26.50.

Software: the Big 4

For those who do their own taxes, 8% of people either eschew software altogether or use only spreadsheets. For the 92% of people who do use software, the vast majority of them (92% of the 92%) use one of StudioTax, TurboTax, SimpleTax, or UFile. The full breakdown of software from our survey is as follows:

  • StudioTax: 27.7%
  • TurboTax: 25.2%
  • SimpleTax: 20.6%
  • UFile: 18.1%
  • GenuTax: 2.6%
  • H&R Block: 1.9%
  • FutureTax: 0.6%
  • myTaxExpress: 0.6%
  • ImpôtExpert: 0.6%
  • TaxFreeway: 0.6%
  • ProFile: 0.6%
  • TaxTron: 0.6%

What are some key features in personal income tax return software? 57% of respondents mentioned that ease of use is important, and to 44% of respondents, free or low cost is important. 15% say they use a given piece of software simply of habit, 5% mention NETFILE as a reason for their choice, and 4% cite security as a key feature.

Forum/Topic Started Last post Posts

Income tax filing

Help on filing T3 after father’s passing

August 27, 2023
4:09 pm by
stelbee
View

August 27, 2023
4:09 pm by
stelbee
View

1

Income tax filing

Recourse for a Direct Deposit to wrong bank account

June 2, 2023
11:41 am by
frugal lady
View

August 22, 2023
1:52 pm by
cgouimet
View

51

Income tax filing

Carbon credit

April 1, 2019
9:00 pm by
Bud
View

July 16, 2023
9:21 am by
Bill
View

18

Income tax filing

CRA processing of Income Tax Returns

May 14, 2023
11:04 am by
Alexandra
View

June 16, 2023
9:00 am by
Alexandra
View

61

Income tax filing

70(2) rights and things pension received in month of death.

April 22, 2023
11:36 am by
anita555
View

May 9, 2023
7:20 am by
RetirEd
View

26

Get monthly updates on bank promos and rate changes

Please write your comments in the forum.