Write-Off

Property tax is an annual municipal levy on real estate, charged by the city or town where the property sits rather than by the CRA. The bill is the assessed value of the property multiplied by the tax rate the municipality sets each year, and it funds local services such as roads, waste collection, policing and the education portion the province adds. Assessed value is set by a provincial assessment authority, so it is not the price you paid.

The basic personal amount is a non-refundable credit that shelters a base level of income from federal tax, so income below it carries no federal tax. The amount is indexed every year, and the enhanced portion is phased out across the second-highest federal bracket, so taxpayers in the top bracket receive only the base amount. Each province and territory sets its own version. On Form TD1 you claim it so your employer withholds less; claim it with one employer only, or too little tax is withheld.

Taxable income is what is left after you total the income the tax rules include and subtract the deductions you are allowed. Employment and self-employment earnings, most pensions, EI and CPP benefits, interest, dividends, rental profit, the taxable portion of capital gains, RRSP and RRIF withdrawals and most taxable benefits from work all go into the total. Tax is then calculated on that figure and reduced by non-refundable credits such as the basic personal amount.

In Canada the federal return for individuals is the T1, filed with the CRA, and it calculates your provincial or territorial tax in the same package, so there is no separate provincial return except in Quebec, where a second return goes to Revenu Quebec. Corporations file the T2 instead. To check a filed return or a refund, sign in to CRA My Account and read the notice of assessment, which shows what was accepted and any change the CRA made.