Canada tax deadline is approaching: Here’s how you could increase your refunds

With the Canada tax deadline approaching on April 30, experts say many taxpayers could be missing out on valuable claims that may increase their refunds.

Jeet Dhillon, a senior portfolio manager at TD Wealth, told Global News, that filing taxes does not need to be stressful.

“We tend to think of tax filing as a once a year sort of event, and then everyone rushes as we get closer to the filing deadline,” she said. “This does not have to be a stressful event.”

Dhillon suggested reviewing previous returns to identify new or missed opportunities.

“Go down that list, go down line by line, and then kind of think back to, ‘OK, what’s changed for me in the previous year that maybe wasn’t applicable last year but may be applicable now?'”

Ryan Minor, director of tax at CPA Canada, said to Global News, that gathering missing information is key: “Do your best estimate and fix when you do have the info,” he said.

Among lesser-known claims, tutoring for individuals with learning disabilities may qualify as a medical expense.

“Tutoring is one that’s not intuitive because it doesn’t sound medical. There is a provision for it,” Minor said.

“If you’re going to have to pay something out of pocket, and especially if you are going outside the country, these are still medical expenses, and one should kind of keep track of those,” Dhillon said.