Start organizing tax documents now: experts
Posted Feb 17, 2011 06:16:59 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Whether you’re itching to get your tax return sent off as soon as possible or dreading the whole exercise you can start getting prepared now even before all your slips arrive.
Make it easier on your accountant or yourself by getting organized early and pulling together receipts for some credits and deductions today.
H&R Block Senior Tax Analyst Cleo Hamel says, for example, you can get prescription drug receipts organized in advance.
“In a lot of pharmacies across the country you can walk into your local pharmacist and ask for a receipt or a statement that shows every prescription bought for the year,” she said.
She says that all important T4 won’t start reaching mailboxes until the end of the month.
“Let’s clarify, it’s the end of February when they have to get it to you,” she said. “Whether they put in the mail on the 28th or whether they attach it to your month end pay stub, they need to be sending it out to you by that date.”
Most important for many people is the RRSP contribution — that deadline is at the end of the month. You can contribute all year round, that’s just the deadline for this tax year.
If you want to do a draft run of your tax return, check your last pay stub of the year for some rough numbers to work with.
