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For those of us who still prepare and file hard copy T1-General Income Tax Returns
December 31, 2018
8:41 am
Top It Up
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From the CRA website

The 2018 income tax and benefit information for individuals will be available by February 18, 2019.

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/tax-packages-years/general-income-tax-benefit-package.html

January 17, 2019
7:55 am
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2018 OAS/CPP T4As available for download Feb 1st.

January 17, 2019
8:39 am
Bill
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I file paper returns, so I opt to continue to get paper T4As, T5s, etc sent to me. I need to attach them with my return and that way I don't use my own paper and ink!

January 17, 2019
8:52 am
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I too file hardcopy returns BUT I don't want to keep hardcopies for my own records. I prepare the downloaded T1-General returns digitally, using Adobe Acrobat, then print off the return for mailing ... so, it's either printing off or scanning in - I've opted for the former.

January 17, 2019
8:58 am
Oscar
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I received my return in the mail yesterday

January 18, 2019
7:33 pm
Bill
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Mine came too. Guess CRA's February 18 date is referring to at the local postal outlet.

January 29, 2019
8:46 pm
martik777
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Why would anyone prepare paper tax returns when there is free tax software available that you can run any scenario on, in seconds?

https://www.studiotax.com/en/

I have used this since 2004 - no issues

January 30, 2019
7:22 am
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martik777 said
Why would anyone prepare paper tax returns when there is free tax software available that you can run any scenario on, in seconds?

Not much of a mental exercise required to fill out the annual tax return ... some people like to do the daily Sudoku puzzle while others like to hand-bomb their yearly tax form.

January 30, 2019
7:34 am
Righand
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martik777 said
Why would anyone prepare paper tax returns when there is free tax software available that you can run any scenario on, in seconds?

https://www.studiotax.com/en/

I have used this since 2004 - no issues  

I have also used Studio Tax for the last 7 years and find it great ! But because I find it so useful I always send them a donation once I've filed my return. To me, it only seems fair.sf-smile

January 30, 2019
7:35 am
Bill
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Was just going to say the same, Top It Up, when I saw your post. Plus instead of just filling in fields I enjoy the understanding I have of all the provisions, the big picture, and then figuring out how they fit together best. And I just generally prefer working with paper over screens, find it more pleasurable, like to write and read via paper whenever I get the option.

January 30, 2019
8:52 am
Alexandre
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I prefer using TurboTax, because it lets me try "what ifs" very easily.

All of that, of course, can be done by hand - but Excel with formulas exists for a reason in business world, so does Tax preparation software as far as I am concerned.

January 30, 2019
9:39 am
mmlt
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Studio Tax is pretty much the hard copy. It does the heavy lifting for you.

I've used Simple Tax, too, for comparison. It's fine for basic needs and it's "simple".

February 14, 2019
10:02 am
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ALL 2018 T1 General Income Tax forms, guides, schedules, etc. NOW available on line for downloading.

February 16, 2019
8:56 am
SavingIsGood
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Top It Up said

martik777 said
Why would anyone prepare paper tax returns when there is free tax software available that you can run any scenario on, in seconds?

Not much of a mental exercise required to fill out the annual tax return ... some people like to do the daily Sudoku puzzle while others like to hand-bomb their yearly tax form.  

It is proven that games like soduko and similar are plain BS. They will NOT make your brain stay 'younger'. Just plain time wasters.
Communication with people, writing MAILS (not emails but PAPER mails) where you have to really use your brain will keep you sane.
I wonder too why would somebody manually calculate their taxes (time waster and prone to massive errors) unless you REALLY have noting better to do in your life. And I guess you have twitter, facebook, instagram and other BS accounts.

February 16, 2019
9:07 am
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My manually calculated and prepared T1 return went in the mailbox first thing Thursday morning - my assessment will be available online and a small deposit will be in my bank account (instalment overpayment) on the morning of March 14th. I'm off to Europe for the month of March - how about yourself?

I'll leave social media to the youngsters.

February 16, 2019
12:15 pm
AltaRed
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Will Netfile my tax software produced T1 and T1135 about Apr 22-25th as usual, albeit I will actually do the inputs circa 4-6pm PDT after the Monster Energy Food City NASCAR event on Apr 7th just in case something I need is missing. sf-cool

February 16, 2019
4:16 pm
martik777
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Righand said

I have also used Studio Tax for the last 7 years and find it great ! But because I find it so useful I always send them a donation once I've filed my return. To me, it only seems fair.sf-smile  

Top It Up said
My manually calculated and prepared T1 return went in the mailbox first thing Thursday morning - my assessment will be available online and a small deposit will be in my bank account (instalment overpayment) on the morning of March 14th. I'm off to Europe for the month of March - how about yourself?

I'll leave social media to the youngsters.  

I will continue to netfile thus avoiding the destruction of precious trees and driving a 2 ton vehicle to the post office all of which contribute to global warming. sf-smile

If everyone in Canada filed via paper, assuming 25,000,000 tax returns x 10 pages = 250,000,000 sheets of paper
At 8,333 sheets per tree that is 30,000 trees!!!

http://conservatree.org/learn/.....tats.shtml

I'll be in Thailand for that same month.

February 16, 2019
4:49 pm
Alexandre
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Me, personally, I will continue to use TurboTax like I did since 2002. I like Netfile service it comes with. I enjoy the ability to file taxes electronically vs. when I had to file them manually.

2019 will be the first year when I'll wait till all my tax forms are available at CRA, so that I can fully utilize "Auto-Fill My Return."

Last year, I filed my taxes on March 6, 2018 using Netfile. My tax refund in the amount of $2,600 was deposited by Revenue Canada to my checking account on March 15, 2018.

If anyone interested, I will be in Canada during March of 2019. sf-smile

February 16, 2019
5:57 pm
Doug
British Columbia, Canada
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Bill said
I file paper returns, so I opt to continue to get paper T4As, T5s, etc sent to me. I need to attach them with my return and that way I don't use my own paper and ink!  

Bill, you do realize you could still print from PDF your T5s, T4s, etc. and still attach them with your paper return.

Peter, there seems to be a few second delay when I hit "reply" and the quoted text appears in the reply box. Can you improve that please? I keep running into issues with the text I'm typing hitting the box before the blockquote appears. 🙁

Cheers,
Doug

February 16, 2019
7:14 pm
AltaRed
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martik777 said
I will continue to netfile thus avoiding the destruction of precious trees and driving a 2 ton vehicle to the post office all of which contribute to global warming. sf-smile

If everyone in Canada filed via paper, assuming 25,000,000 tax returns x 10 pages = 250,000,000 sheets of paper
At 8,333 sheets per tree that is 30,000 trees!!!

http://conservatree.org/learn/.....tats.shtml

I'll be in Thailand for that same month.  

I know I hikjacked this thread somewhat with my post upthread advocating electronic Netfile, but what Martik just said is important. Why in the world would anyone use paper any more given the 'zero' cost of having everything electronic? No file cabinets, no paper cluttering up hanging file folders, no need for computer printers/copiers/scanners, cutting out Canada Post from the process (receipt of tax slips and the mailing of tax returns), etc.

Out of all the T4As, T5s, T3s, T5008s, T1135s, etc. I get, only one still comes by paper (a T5 from a big 5 bank) and I raise hell each year about them needing to provide a paperless option....especially since I already get eStatements. How difficult would it be to add another link for 'e Tax Documents'?

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