Three good reasons to file your tax return on time.

Only one month left to file your 2023 income tax!

We’re already halfway through tax season. Congratulations if you have already filed your 2023 taxes! You’re among one third of Canadian taxpayers who have done so.

The deadline for filing your tax return is April 30th, 2024. While it can be tedious and painful sometimes to prepare your income tax, it has many advantages. The importance of filing your tax return mainly reside on the fact that you are providing updated information to the government as a Canadian resident, and here are three reasons why it is important to do it on time.

1. You may be eligible for a refund and get it quicker.

The only way to know if you are eligible for a refund is to file your taxes. In this case the sooner you do it, the faster you will receive your refund. The reason is the processing time is shorter at the beginning of the tax season due to the lower number of taxpayers filing their taxes. If you file you taxes by the end of the season, it will take longer to be processed.

2. You may be eligible for benefits or credit payments.

Filing a tax return will ensure that the CRA and Revenu Quebec are using the most accurate information to calculate benefit and credit payments. You could be eligible for certain benefit and credit payments, such as the Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) credit, the Canada child benefit (CCB), Quebec family allowance or the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS). The longer you wait to file, the more likely it is that payments will be interrupted.

3. You will avoid interest and penalties for late filing.

It is important to know that for both the CRA and Revenu Quebec, the late-filing penalty is 5% of your 2023 balance owing, plus an additional 1% for each full month that you file after the due date, to a maximum of 12 months. Therefore, filing your taxes before April 30th, 2024 can be crucial in case you have a due amount, to avoid owing more money to the governments.

If you haven’t yet filed your 2023 income tax, feel free to contact SJT CPA.

With SJT CPA, your CPA in Montreal, you will have the convenience of your taxes done remotely and the confidence of having them done by a Pro, on time!

For more information, please call 438 725-5736 or schedule a free tax consultation at calendly.com/cpa-sjt.

Souleymane Junior Traore CPA

Founder of SJT CPA, your www.cpainmontreal.com