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moneysense.ca, 13/04/09
Small tax deductions you might miss
I’m just about finished with our taxes and found that we had three small tax deductions for 2008 that would have been easily missed if I weren’t paying more attention. These deductions are small enough on their own (less than $100, often less than $50) but they might add up to a significant amount.
Public Transit amount
The cost of monthly bus passes can be claimed as a non-refundable tax credit on line 364. CRA advises to keep the passes and receipts, in case they ask to see them.
Children’s fitness amount
If your child is enrolled in an eligible sports program, you can claim a non-refundable tax credit up to $500 per child (worth a maximum of $75) on Line 365.
Safe deposit box charges
Safe deposit charges qualifies as a tax deduction under Carrying charges and interest expenses (Line 221) if you use it to hold securities or other investments.
You may want to check out CRA’s webpage on tax credits or deductions you may be eligible for. If you have already filed your taxes but missed some deductions, it may be worthwhile to file an amendment.
moneysense.ca, 13/04/09
My chequing account fees include a safety deposit box. What amount can I claim? I also maintain a balance in my chequing account to avoid paying fees, does that mean I can’t claim anything? Does a Universal Life Insurance Policy count as an investment for the purposes of storing investments in a safe deposit box?
I’m not sure whether a UL policy would count as an investment but I believe you’d need a receipt stating the safe deposit charge to claim it as a deduction. Any tax experts want to chime in?
Great post!
Write off your Pay Parking! (I know it always has been deductible, but this makes it waaaaay easier to keep track off)
I spend $100+/month because of my work as a Realtor. I never kept track of the small amounts in coins because it was waaaaay too time consuming following my accountants instructions for keeping track of pay parking.
Pay By Phone (check your city for availability) lets me pay for my parking with my cel phone and it bills my credit card automatically.
Give the credit card bill to your accountant with the Pay By Phone charges and Voila! You can start writing off all that money you spend on pay parking.
Mike,
Can you provide a link explaining the parking deduction? I pay a ton of money for parking downtown.
Hi Sid,
Here is a City of Vancouver link that explains how it works.
I can’t recommend it enough!
http://vancouver.ca/engsvcs/parking/paybyphone.htm
Let me know how it works out.
Thanks!
PS… The woman in the picture is a friend of a friend.
How odd is that?!
Mike, I meant the tax deduction, not the paying by phone.
We have that too here in Winnipeg but when you add up the extra fees, it’s not worth it.
sid: Parking is tax deductible for the self-employed who pay for parking in the course of business. Employees like us are out of luck. I’m pretty sure that’s the case because my spouse pays for parking and would love to write it off
I’m selfiemployed so it works for me.
Sid – I don’t have any links for that. I just go on what my accountant says.
Fees too expensive? Really? I need to pay for parking several times a day 5-6 days a week, so the fees are worth it to me. AND its much cheaper than the $200+/month in parking tickets I used to get.
Are the fees not deductible as well?
Love to hear your thoughts.
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