Expert Tax Accountants in Merritt

Your employer withholds federal income tax plus British Columbia provincial tax, based on the pay period, your annual rate of pay and the claim codes from your federal and BC TD1 forms, then adds CPP contributions and EI premiums until the annual maximums are reached. British Columbia also charges employers a health tax once payroll passes a set size, but that is the employer's cost and is not taken off your pay. The CRA's Payroll Deductions Online Calculator gives exact amounts.

Rent on your home is not deductible on a federal return. Two exceptions matter. If you are self-employed or work from home under an employer's requirement, you can deduct the portion of rent tied to the workspace, based on the area used and the time it is used for work. And some provinces fold rent into a property or energy tax credit claimed through your return, Ontario and Manitoba among them. Keep receipts and your landlord's details.

Yes. The CRA accepts late returns, and filing late is far better than not filing. If you owe money, the late-filing penalty is 5% of the balance plus 1% for each full month the return is late, up to 12 months, and interest runs on the unpaid amount from the day after the payment deadline. If you owe nothing there is no late-filing penalty, but benefit and credit payments that depend on the return can be interrupted until it is assessed.

Sometimes. When a BC seller ships taxable goods to a buyer in the province, PST at 7% applies to the delivery or freight charge as part of the price of those goods. If the goods themselves are exempt, the related delivery charge is exempt too. Freight billed separately by an arm's-length carrier for a transportation service is not subject to PST. GST applies to the freight either way. Check the province's PST bulletin on delivery charges.

Child care paid so you could work, run a business or study is generally deductible, and it normally has to be claimed by the lower-income spouse. Eligible costs include daycare, a nanny, day camps and some overnight camp or boarding school fees. The amount is capped per child by the child's age and by a share of earned income; the current limits are on the CRA's child care expenses page. Keep receipts showing the provider's name and, for an individual caregiver, their SIN.

No. Food for human consumption is exempt from British Columbia's 7% PST, and basic groceries are zero-rated for the 5% GST as well, so a normal grocery shop carries no sales tax. The exceptions are treated differently: carbonated and sweetened drinks attract PST, and restaurant meals and food sold heated or ready to eat attract GST. Non-food items in the same basket, such as cleaning supplies, remain fully taxable.

Sign in to CRA My Account and open the tax year: a filed return shows as received or assessed, and the notice of assessment appears there once processing finishes. Filing software also keeps a confirmation number from the moment it transmitted the return. If nothing appears in My Account and no notice arrived by post, the return was most likely never filed, and it can still be filed now. The CRA's individual enquiries line can confirm what is on record.

GST/HST applies to wholesale sales the same as retail, since Canada has no resale exemption certificate. A registered buyer charges tax on its own sales and recovers the tax it paid on inventory as an input tax credit, so the tax washes out through the chain and only the final consumer bears it. Provincial sales tax works differently: in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, goods bought for resale are generally exempt if you give the vendor your registration number.

There is no federal renter's credit. Some provinces offer one: Ontario includes rent in its energy and property tax credit, Manitoba has a renters tax credit, and Quebec's solidarity credit factors in your housing. You claim it on the provincial schedule filed with your T1 for the year, reporting rent paid and your landlord's details, so you must file even with low income. Keep receipts or a lease. Check your province's page for eligibility.

Ask the employer first, since slips are due to employees by the end of February for the prior year. If it still does not come, most T4 information appears in My Account and can be pulled into most tax software using auto-fill my return. Failing that, file on time using your pay records and final pay stub and estimate the amounts. Filing late costs more than a small estimating error, and you can correct the figures afterwards with a T1-ADJ.

Yes. Income tax on tips works the same across Canada: gratuities are income and go on your T1, with federal tax plus British Columbia's provincial rates applied to your total. There is no separate BC tip tax and no exemption for cash. Controlled tips your employer distributes appear on your T4; direct tips do not, so log them daily and report the total. GST is not charged on a voluntary tip.

File on time anyway. The late-filing penalty is charged on the balance owing and costs far more than interest alone, so filing protects you even when you cannot pay a cent. Then pay what you can and call the CRA to arrange payments based on your income and expenses; interest keeps running while you pay it down. Where penalties or interest arose from serious illness, a disaster or a CRA error, ask for taxpayer relief on an RC4288.