Brian Quinlan, partner at Campbell Lawless Professional Corporation

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TAX TIPS FOR YOUR 2017 RETURN

• It's late in the tax season: Ensure you make your tax payment by April 30! For those that are self-employed – or have a spouse that’s self-employed – their tax return isn’t due until June 15, but the money is still due on April 30.
• Did you sell your home in 2017?  Even if it’s tax-free sale when you claim a full principal residence exemption, it still needs to be disclosed in your tax return.  Refer to the bottom of schedule 3 and the first page of tax form T2091 dealing with the principal residence exemption.
• Are you an Uber driver and/or are you renting out your place on AirBNB?  The income is taxable, but you likely can claim expenses incurred to reduce the income subject to tax.

CHANGES TO THE TAX CODE

Some tax credits that people have become accustomed to have been eliminated:

• The child fitness and art credit as of Jan.  1, 2017.
• The public transit tax credit as of July 1, 2017.
• The education and textbook tax credit as of Jan. 1, 2017 (Though the tuition credit is still OK).

Eligible medical expenses for the medical tax credit have been expanded to include reproductive technologies (such as in-vitro fertilization) where the individual doesn’t have a medical infertility condition.

TOP DEDUCTIONS PEOPLE FORGET ABOUT

• The disability tax credit.  A medical person needs to certify that a patient is disabled and qualifies for the credit. This is done on tax form T2201.
• Union and professional dues.
• The caregiver tax credit when responsible for the care of a medically of physically infirm parent, grandparent, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew or adult child.
• Expenses incurred to do your job.  The employer would need to provide the employee with tax form T2200 – Declaration of Conditions of Employment – which sets out the expenses the employee is required to pay for in carrying out his or her employment duties.