Year-End Tax Prep for Canadians

Which slips arrive when

• Late January: T4 (employment), T4A (self-employment / pension), T5 (investment income).
• February: T3 (trust income), T5008 (securities transactions), RRSP contribution receipts.
• March: most brokerage T5s and T3s finalized; last-minute RRSP receipts for the March 1 deadline.
• Rolling: RRSP contributions made in the first 60 days of the year count for the prior year.

Most Canadians can pull all of the above from CRA My Account by mid-March. Registering ahead of time is the single highest-leverage tax move.

What to gather in December

• Charitable donation receipts (deadline: December 31).
• Medical receipts — dental, prescriptions, therapy, vision, travel for treatment.
• Childcare receipts.
• Union / professional dues receipts.
• Home office expenses if you're self-employed (utilities, internet share, supplies).
• Moving receipts if you moved 40+ km closer to work or school.
• Investment purchase and sale confirmations (for capital gains).

Self-employed, gig economy & crypto

This is the fastest-growing category of missed or messy filings — mostly because the paperwork habit never gets built in year one.

• Self-employed / freelance: June 15 filing deadline, but any balance owing is still due April 30 — interest accrues from May 1 either way.
• Gig economy (rideshare, delivery, freelance platforms): collect a T4A or year-end income summary from every platform you worked for, not just the main one.
• CPP: self-employed individuals pay both the employer and employee share — budget for it, it catches first-year freelancers off guard.
• Crypto: CRA treats it as property. Selling, trading one coin for another, and even spending it are all taxable dispositions, not just cashing out to CAD.
• Crypto record-keeping: export full transaction history from every exchange and wallet — adjusted cost base tracking is on you, not the exchange.
• Foreign property: if the total cost of foreign income or property was over $100,000 CAD at any point in the year, file Form T1135 — the penalty for skipping it is disproportionate to how simple the form is.

Deductions Canadian families miss

• Childcare expenses — including day camps, before/after school programs, and licensed home daycare.
• Moving expenses — legit if the move is at least 40 km closer to work or school.
• Employment expenses with a T2200 from your employer.
• Interest on student loans (federal and provincial portions).
• Union and professional dues.
• Investment counsel fees for non-registered accounts.

Credits worth knowing

• Canada Workers Benefit — refundable, for lower-income workers.
• Disability Tax Credit — if you or a dependant qualifies; opens the door to RDSP.
• Home Accessibility Tax Credit — for seniors and adults with disability doing home renovations.
• Digital News Subscription Credit — small but easy to claim.
• Climate action incentive — automatic in most provinces; make sure your address is current with CRA.
• Provincial family and childcare credits — many provinces stack on top of federal.

How to file without panic

Filing itself is the easy part if the paperwork is ready. Aim to file by early April — earlier if you're owed a refund, on time even if you owe (interest accrues from May 1).

• Use certified NETFILE software (Wealthsimple Tax, TurboTax, StudioTax) — most Canadians can file free.
• Import slips directly from CRA via Auto-fill My Return.
• Double-check tuition transfers, spousal amount, and pension splitting.
• Set direct deposit for refunds and benefit payments.
• Save the return, the slips, and the receipts in one folder — CRA can ask for them up to six years later.