Doing your own taxes

[R_Ethug]

Anybody ever do their own taxes with Quicktax. I umm 'bought' a copy of quicktax 2003 and installed it last night and it seems pretty easy just mail it in since its umm boughten.. anyways anybody try this program before? Does it watermark printouts or anything?

[Chris]

Re: Doing your own taxes

Anybody ever do their own taxes with Quicktax. I umm 'bought' a copy of quicktax 2003 and installed it last night and it seems pretty easy just mail it in since its umm boughten.. anyways anybody try this program before? Does it watermark printouts or anything?

The easiest way to get your taxes done and done right would be to hire Blair as your accountant.

[gaffer]

Re: Doing your own taxes

I have done my own taxes the last few years (when I was a student and was not making that much money) with QuikTax and it seemed to work pretty well. I think that if you taxes are simple, then it should be fine to use.

However, if your taxes are more complex, then the money that you spend on an accountant or tax preparation service will be made up through a larger tax return.

I dont think that there were any watermarks, etc, but I had bought it at the store. All you do is at the end you print it out, and it looks just like the tax forms you would get from the Revenue Canada. It also prints a list of all the thing that you need to include in the package you mail to them. I think you can also file online, if you meet certain criteria.

Gaf

[Billip]

Re: Doing your own taxes

I've done my own taxes with QuickTax for the past 5 years or so. No problems yet, super easy. As for print outs, who knows man... E-File it!

Also, you should know that QuickTax has a product activation proceedure that may hamper your usage since you "bought" it. It's very important to do the self update of QuickTax as well once you install and start it as they post last minute changes to the application and tax tables used in the calculations.

It's really not that much money, so I recommend actually buying it rather than "buying" it.

[R_Ethug]

Re: Doing your own taxes

haha bill yea i have to disconnect my line to my cable modem when i run it so it can't talk to quicken since it goes out on port 80 and more than likely my firewall will just let it go.. and since its special i can't efile.. haha i dunno i might buy it we'll see

[Khyron]

Re: Doing your own taxes

haha bill yea i have to disconnect my line to my cable modem when i run it so it can't talk to quicken since it goes out on port 80 and more than likely my firewall will just let it go.. and since its special i can't efile.. haha i dunno i might buy it we'll see

It usually drops to around 30 bucks. Kinda sucks since you have to buy a new copy every year tho - they need a cheap updater instead. What does H&R or those other tax places charge for a basic tax file?

Khyron

[1.8Trip]

Re: Doing your own taxes

I think it's something like 50 bucks at an accountant.

I've been using QuickTax for a while too and seems to work everytime. It's pretty hard to screw up cuz all the forms are linked.

[Stonewall]

Re: Doing your own taxes

I have used this site for the last 2 years and have had no problems what so ever, actually the first year I made so little I didn't even have to pay for it.
http://ufile.ca/
It even has links for each section to help you understand everything, also has links to the proper sections on the goverments website.

[Ryan S]

Re: Doing your own taxes

I use an accountant. I like the fact that I can say "Hello Mr. Accountant. Here's all my crap, call me when it's done." I'm a realtor, so my taxes are a big PITA.

I have a semi-related question for the tax-knowledgeable:
My work is based out of my home.
If I write-off a portion of my mortgage payment I would have to pay capital gains on that same percentage when I sell, right?
Is that percentage based on my equity at the time of sale, or on the total value, including the mortgage?
If I buy a new home with that equity, will I still have to pay capital gains?
What's an appropriate amount? 10%?
Can I lump-in last year's (2002)? I haven't claimed any of my home as a business expense before.
And lastly, would it be to my benefit (ie; less money burned away, long term)?

[Canadian Turbo]

Re: Doing your own taxes

I do work as an accountant if people need some assistance, but for very simple returns Quiktax can work well but just make sure you do it correctly, and if you are a little braver you can use the CCRA free service at www.netfile.gc.ca

Ryan to help you out with you question, if you have a home based business you can write off a percentage of your mortgage INTEREST, property taxes, utilities, insurance and maintenance expenses. The percentage should be based upon a calculation of the amount of space you use for your work versus the total size of your house. This should not effect capital gains at all when you sell your house, personal residences are capital gain exempt.

Hope this helps you guys out!

[R_Ethug]

Re: Doing your own taxes

mine should be easy. I work FT own a car/house thats it. I build PCs and do computer work on the side but its all under the table so can't really count that

[Ryan S]

Re: Doing your own taxes

Yeah, that helps a lot, thanks.

So I can write-off the IT part of a PIT mortgage, plus my condo fees, plus power, cable and phone? My den's about 10% of my condo, but my power consumption, for instance, is way higher than 10% more because my computer and lights are on during the day. Can I claim more than 10% of the utility costs? And, again, can I add 2002's unclaimed deductions to 2003?

[Canadian Turbo]

Re: Doing your own taxes

Yeah interest, condo fees and power. I would stick with the 10% of the power because it is hard to prove how much your computer and such uses so if audited it may be an issue, the percentage is the safer way to go. You can expense your cable internet expense nearly 100%, phone is only deductible if the bill comes in your companies name but can you can expense long distance charges if work related, usually you expense the cell phone 100% instead. As for claiming 2002 amounts in 2003 can make things out of wack so may not be best to do, but if it is a significant amount you may want to go back and adjust the 2002 return.