Tax filing digitally for 2025 | Page 2 | Income tax filing | Discussion forum

If one is using certified tax software to author the paper T1 General return, CRA would rather receive the modified "for the government" print of the return with a 2D barcode of the data.

After one has paid for the tax software, one can NETFILE or print the return. For printing, one can choose what to print.

When one chooses to print the return, the software will ask what return to print: The return to send in to CRA or the return for one's files. The printed return for CRA will usually have a 2D barcode that CRA can scan to quickly input the numbers in the return. It also won't have all the detailed info of the full paper return.

The full paper return for one's files is not needed by CRA initially. CRA can request it later though.

itsme said

Where would I find the PDF option in Genutax? I can't seem to see it anywhere  

I don't currently have it installed on my computer. This is a GenuTax link that explains how:

https://www.genutax.ca/Help/Program/File/Print

There's also a preview option:

https://www.genutax.ca/Help/Program/File/Preview

itsme said

Where would I find the PDF option in Genutax? I can't seem to see it anywhere  

Should have added in my previous post that in order to generate a PDF, use the printer selection dropdown and you should see an option to print/save to PDF.

Bill said
Do any of these free software programs resemble the T1 return in that one can work through it line by line while it does the calculations? That would be ideal for me, when completed I could print it, and any associated schedules, off and mail it all in.  

I have used quite a few digital filing services, and every one of them has let me print or save a PDF copy of the return. So I will go through and input all my income, deductions, RRSP, etc... but before I file, I look at the PDF version that has all the T forms and worksheets, just to see what the software is calculating, and to make sure there aren't any lines on the form that the software is skipping or inaccurate on. After a few minutes reviewing that, then I Netfile if everything looks good. Last year was a good example because the Autofill system (which is usually great) had many omissions.

The thing I don't understand is if CRA has to spend time certifying all the different software and cloud services, it would be a lot more efficient if they just made their own software/service instead of making us all pay companies for it each year.

Happy New Year to everyone... tax season will be here before we know it hehe

Conspiracy?

Last year TurboTax declared it will NOT work on Win 10. You HAVE to upgrade to Win 11 in order to use TT '26.
Well, that is NOT exactly correct.
You can download TT '26 and during installation on Win 10 it warns you two times that it is 'not recommended to install on Win 10 due to 'security' reasons even if you have ESU activated'.
In addition to that you HAVE to have TT account or it will not let you to proceed to activation screen.
No further comments...

everhopeful said

The thing I don't understand is if CRA has to spend time certifying all the different software and cloud services, it would be a lot more efficient if they just made their own software/service instead of making us all pay companies for it each year.

No, it is not. CRA can't create the required NETFILE software for less than it costs them to spot check software created by others for NETFILE certification.

NETFILE certification isn't even a full test of the software. People, including me, have found issues with NETFILE certified tax software.

NETFILE certified tax software is required to have accurate Total Income. That's why all the software agree to the penny on Total Income. But, it isn't actually a requirment that the certified software find and claim all the possible credits and deductions!

Another thing that can be done with most tax software/sites, is that you can work through the return and see what balance it calculates at no charge... most will only need payment prior to Netfiling or printing a return to mail in. So I will usually run my slips through a competing software/service prior to filing to see if the numbers match.

Norman1 said
NETFILE certified tax software is required to have accurate Total Income. That's why all the software agree to the penny on Total Income. But, it isn't actually a requirment that the certified software find and claim all the possible credits and deductions!  

Agreed, but this is partly because certified software cannot know all the possibilities of a taxpayer's situation. Some though, like UFile, do flag/query a number of 'usual' credits and deductions if they are not used, especially in 'family' situations such as 'taxpayer and spouse'.

Norman1 said

AltaRed said
Agreed, but this is partly because certified software cannot know all the possibilities of a taxpayer's situation. …

The issues I've personally seen were bugs in the software.

One software I tried had multiple lines where the totals were off by pennies because of not correctly rounding calculated numbers.

I noticed another had wrong tax refund calculated because it didn't recalculate after I corrected a typo I made in entering one of my slips. I had to delete the slip and re-enter the slip before the correct tax refund showed.

I still remember one where a subtotal of a schedule was off by thousands of dollars. Software was adding lines to the subtotal that were not supposed to be included! Apparently, no-one else noticed that by June when I did my return. The writer of the software was suprised too when I reported the issue.

Fortunately for other who NETFILE'd before me, that subtotal was only for the printed returns and wasn't included in the NETFILE upload.  

The worse was Turbotax which didn't properly advise on the Child Tax Care credit for years. I'll paste in the AI summary of that error:

A significant number of TurboTax users in Ontario have reported that the software incorrectly calculated eligibility for the Ontario Child Care Access and Relief from Expenses (CARE) tax credit over multiple tax years, leading to reassessments and substantial bills from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
The issue stems from TurboTax defaulting to using only the lower-earning spouse's income when calculating the credit, rather than the combined household income, even when joint returns were filed together.
This error resulted in families receiving larger credits than they were entitled to, which the CRA is now reclaiming.

Affected users have reported being required to repay amounts ranging from $10,000 to over $21,000, including penalties and interest, for the 2021, 2022, and 2023 tax years.
The problem appears to have persisted for several years, with some families facing reassessments for three consecutive years.
Despite entering accurate information and following the software’s guidance, users were misled by the incorrect calculation.

TurboTax has acknowledged customer feedback regarding the Ontario Childcare Access and Relief from Expenses form but has denied responsibility, stating that the issue lies with how users entered information rather than a software glitch.
However, users argue that the software failed to prompt them to correctly identify both spouses as supporting persons on Form ON479-A, which is incorrectly labeled as ONCARE within the software.
This design flaw led to the miscalculation.