Many, if not most, taxpayers think of tax planning as a year-end exercise to be carried out in the last few weeks of the year, with a view to taking the steps needed to minimize the tax bill for the current year.
Many, if not most, taxpayers think of tax planning as a year-end exercise to be carried out in the last few weeks of the year, with a view to taking the steps needed to minimize the tax bill for the current year.
Of the 17 million individual income tax returns for the 2022 tax year filed with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) by the middle of April 2023, no two were identical.
Of the 27 million individual income tax returns already filed with the Canada Revenue Agency for the 2021 tax year, no two were identical. Each return contained its own particular combination of types and amounts of income reported and deductions and credits claimed. There is, however, one thing which every one of those returns has in common.
By now, most Canadians have filed their income tax returns for the 2020 taxation year. Specifically, by May 17, 2021, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) had processed just under 27 million individual income tax returns filed for 2020. Just over 16 million of those returns resulted in a refund to the taxpayer, while about 6.6 million taxpayers received a bill for additional taxes owed.
Although the filing deadline for individual income tax returns for the 2019 tax year has been extended to June 1, 2020, millions of Canadians have nonetheless already filed those returns. Specifically, by May 19, 2020, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) had processed just over 20 million individual income tax returns filed for the 2019 tax year.