Who Must File An Income Tax Return

Making Money In Canada

Your Canadian residency status doesnt affect whether or not you have to file a Canadian income tax return, however, it does affect how you file your taxes, what income you need to report, and the availability of certain credits or deductions. If you meet any of the CRAs criteria listed above, for example, you have to file a tax return regardless of your residency status.

If you live in another country but receive income from a business you own in Canada, or from investments you have in Canada or if you have property in Canada, then you will need to file an income tax return.

All You Need To Know Is Yourself

Answer simple questions about your life and TurboTax Free Edition will take care of the rest.

• Estimate your tax refund andwhere you stand

• Know how much to withhold from your paycheck to get

• Estimate your self-employment tax and eliminate

• Know which dependents credits and deductions

• Estimate capital gains, losses, and taxes for cryptocurrency sales

• See which education credits and deductions you qualify for

The above article is intended to provide generalized financial information designed to educate a broad segment of the public it does not give personalized tax, investment, legal, or other business and professional advice. Before taking any action, you should always seek the assistance of a professional who knows your particular situation for advice on taxes, your investments, the law, or any other business and professional matters that affect you and/or your business.

Do I Need To File A Tax Return For An Irrevocable Trust

The irrevocable trust must receive a tax identification number and needs to file its own tax returns. Unlike a revocable trust, an irrevocable trust is treated as an entity that is legally independent of its grantor for tax purposes. Irrevocable trusts are taxed on income in much the same way as individuals.

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What Is Form 26as

Form 26As is a vital document showing the portion of tax deducted at source on payments/investments made by individuals, employees and freelancers. This enables the taxpayers to claim refunds for any additional tax or overdue tax payments made.

The new Form26AS, which is applicable from AY2020-21, has been refurbished to make it easier to file income tax returns online as well as encourage compliance with any tax regulations.

Federal Income Tax Filing Requirements

The determination of whether you are required to file a federal individual income tax return is based on:

• your federal tax filing status
• your gross income
• whether you are claimed as a dependent on another individuals income tax return and
• whether you received a specific credit or owe a tax liability .

General Filing Requirements when an individual is NOT claimed as a dependent on another individuals income tax return

1 Gross income generally means all income that you received in the form of money, goods, property, and services that is not exempt from tax, including any income from outside of the United States or from the sale of your main home . Please note that certain social security benefits may be excluded from the definition of gross income.

2 If you did not live with your spouse at the end of 2020 and your gross income was at least $5, you must file a return regardless of your age.

For items of gross income generally pertaining to students, please refer to IRS Publication 970, Tax Benefits for Education, Chapter 1, Scholarships, Fellowships, Grants and Tuition Reductions and the IRS web page for students, Students Page – Higher Education.

If you will be claimed as a dependent on another individuals tax return, please refer to the Federal Form 1040 Instructions for filing requirements and worksheet.

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What If I Only Receive Social Security Benefits

In most cases, if you only receive Social Security benefits you wouldn’t have any taxable income and wouldn’t need to file a tax return.

One catch with Social Security benefits is if you are married but file a separate tax return from your spouse who you lived with during the year. Then you will always have to include at least some of your Social Security benefits in your taxable income to see if it is greater than your standard deduction.

You Can Claim Refundable Tax Credits

Refundable tax credits are particularly valuable for low-income taxpayers because they can provide a refund beyond what you paid for the year via withholding or estimated tax payments.

In other words, if its worth more than the tax you owe, the IRS will issue you a refund for the difference. Refundable credits include:

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Do I Need To File Even If Im Not Required To By Filing Status Age And Income Level

In some cases, yesyou will still need to le a tax return if any of the following apply:

• You owe any taxes, such as alternative minimum tax, taxes on a retirement plan distribution, household employment taxes, and Social Security and Medicare taxes that were not withheld from income.
• Repayment of the First-Time Homebuyer Credit.
• You received a distribution from a health savings account, Archer MSA, or Medicare Advantage MSA.
• You had at least $400 in self-employment income.
• You earned $108.28 or more from a church or qualified church-controlled organization that is exempt from employer Social Security and Medicare taxes.
• You received an advance payment of the Premium Tax Credit for health insurance bought from a health insurance marketplace. You should receive Form 1095-A with the amount of the advance payments.
• Advance payments of the Health Coverage Tax Credit were made for you, your spouse or a dependent. You should receive Form 1099-H with the amount of the advance payments.
• You are required to file Form 965-A for an elected installment payment.
• You are claimed as a dependent, but your income exceeded the filing requirement threshold.

This Guide Can Help Your Child Learn The Process And Build Good Habits

• The Bottom Line

As your child moves toward adulthood, you face several milestone decisions that involve, in part, a desire to help your child become more independent and responsible. But one milestone you may not anticipateeven though it will be part of your child’s growing-up experienceis the filing of that first income tax return in their name.

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You Must File An Income Tax Return If:

• You owe tax to the CRA.
• Youve participated in the Home Buyers Plan or Lifelong Learning Plan and have repayments owing.
• You disposed of capital property. If you sold your home, you must file a tax return even if you dont have to pay capital gains tax on the sale .
• You have received a Canada Workers Benefit advance payments in the tax year.
• The CRA has sent you a Request to File.
• If the CRA has sent you a Demand to File, then that means they are serious about your lack of filing and you had better get to it.

When Can I File My 2021 Tax Return In Canada

The earliest you can file tax returns electronically is in February, 2022. Taxes for the 2021 year will be due on Wednesday, April 30, 2022, and are due on Tuesday, June 7. There is no time limit for paying back any amounts owing with Revenue Canada unless a different arrangement has been made. In the future, it will generate interest, as will accrue.

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Are Trust Distributions Taxable To The Beneficiary

When trust beneficiaries receive distributions from the trusts principal balance, they do not have to pay taxes on the distribution. The trust must pay taxes on any interest income it holds and does not distribute past year-end. Interest income the trust distributes is taxable to the beneficiary who receives it.

Do You Have To File Estate Tax Return

All tax returns, including those of the estate, should be filed and the related taxes paid before the assets are transferred to the beneficiaries. The executor will pay the estates taxes from the liquidity in the estate. If there wont be enough cash available in the estate, estate assets may have to be sold.

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Do You Have To File A Tax Return For An Irrevocable Trust

Unlike a revocable trust, an irrevocable trust is treated as an entity that is legally independent of its grantor for tax purposes. Accordingly, trust income is taxable, and the trustee must file a tax return on behalf of the trust. … Irrevocable trusts are taxed on income in much the same way as individuals.

Should I File A Return Anyway

Even if youre not required to file, sometimes its in your own best interest to do so anyways, for the following reasons

• You want to claim a refund.
• Entries on your tax return determine if youre eligible for certain federal and provincial benefit programs. Even if you had no income, you still may qualify for the GST/HST Credit, or provincial benefits such as the Ontario Trillium Benefit. You can find a complete list of provincial benefit programshere.
• Your RRSP contribution limit starts growing as soon as you earn any income. Even if youre not expecting a refund, the more RRSP contribution room, the better.
• If you want to claim the Canada Workers Benefit or if you want to continue receiving your Canada Child Benefit
• If you attended school and have eligible tuition fees, you must declare the amounts on your tax return, even if you are not using them. You might not need to use the credits this year, but in order to carryforward or transfer them, they must be reported on your current year tax return.
• If you or your spouse want to continue to receive Guaranteed Income Supplement on your Old Age Security payments.

With more than 20 years experience helping Canadians file their taxes confidently and get all the money they deserve, TurboTax products, including TurboTax Free, are available at www.turbotax.ca.

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Filing Your Tax Return

What you need to know about filing your personal income tax and benefit return.

Get help this tax season with the Ontario Child Care Tax Credit and the Low-Income Workers Tax Credit.

Save your receipts for the new Seniors’ Home Safety Tax Credit in 2021, which you can apply for during the 2022 tax season.

You may be eligible for tax credits and benefits to help you with living costs.

Do Minors Have To File Taxes

Minors will have to file taxes if their earned income is greater than $12,550 . If your child only has unearned income, then the threshold is $1,100 . If they have both earned and unearned income, then it is the greater of $1,100 or their earned income plus $350. If the minor is self-employed, they will have to pay Self-Employment Tax at and above $400.

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Do I Legally Have To File A Tax Return

The tax filing deadlines dont apply to everyone. Income, filing status, ages, and whether you fall outside the scope of a special circumstance all affect whether you need to file your taxes. In spite of not having to file taxes, you may consider receiving tax credits or other benefits if you dont have to.

Should I File Taxes Even If I Dont Have To

People with income under a certain amount arent required to file a tax return because they wont owe any tax. Its very common to feel like you shouldnt need to file a return if you dont owe any tax. However, owing to tax and having filing requirements are two separate situations in the CRAs eyes.

Even if the amount of income from your childs job doesnt require a tax return, if a refund is coming, a return should be filed. A child should file a tax return for many reasons:

If your child had any income tax deducted at the source, chances are theyll receive those deductions back as a refund.

Filing a return sets up your childs information with CRA for future years. Many first returns still need to be mailed in, as opposed to NetFiling. Once the first return is processed, your childs info will be filed, enabling them to file electronically in the future. Trust me, sending in a paper return for a high schooler is generally much easier than waiting until they have tuition credits or medical expenses to claim.

RRSP contribution room begins as soon as earned income is reported. Even if your child doesnt purchase RRSPs , their contribution room will begin to accumulate as soon as they report their earned income on their tax return.

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Qualifying Rules If You Can Be Claimed As A Dependent

You must file a tax return for 2020 under any of the following circumstances if you’re single, someone else can claim you as a dependent, and you’re not age 65 or older or blind:

• Your unearned income was more than $1,100.
• Your earned income was more than $12,400.
• Your gross income was more than $1,100, or $350 plus your earned income up to $12,050, whichever is greater.

Married dependents who are not age 65 or older or blind are subject to these filing requirements plus one more: They must file if their gross income was at least $5, and their spouse files a separate return and itemizes deductions.

You Become A Responsible Citizen As A Result Of It

Individuals who make a certain amount of money each year must file a tax return by a certain date, according to income tax legislation. You will be penalized if you do not comply. Even if it is not required, individuals who earn less than the stipulated maximum may file returns. Filing your taxes demonstrates your responsibility as a citizen.

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Tax Refunds Are Available

When Tax Taken at Source is deducted from your earnings, you may be eligible for a refund from the Internal Revenue Service if the total taxes you are owed are less than the amount deducted. You can only get a refund if you file your tax taxes by the deadline. You can earn refunds on your excess tax payments if you file your income tax returns.

Instances In Which An Individual Must File Income Tax Return

Every individual has to declare his income with the Income Tax Department. Such declaration is required to be furnished in the prescribed Form known as Return of Income within due date as prescribed under the Income-tax Act, 1961 . The Form depend upons the nature of the income of the taxpayer. CBDT vide Notification No. 23/2022 dated 01.04.2022 has notified following forms for the individuals for AY 2022-23:

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Does Everyone Need To File An Income Tax Return

OVERVIEW

Not everyone is required to file an income tax return each year. Generally, if your total income for the year doesn’t exceed certain thresholds, then you don’t need to file a federal tax return. The amount of income that you can earn before you are required to file a tax return also depends on the type of income, your age and your filing status.

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It Might Assist You In Adjusting Your Capital Gains And Losses

You will almost certainly experience capital gains and losses if you invest in equities. Capital losses can be offset against capital gains under the Income Tax Act. However, filing income tax returns is required for this. In addition, provided you file your Income Tax returns on time, you can carry any capital loss forward for the next eight financial years.

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