Lesson 17 — Activity 3:

Completing an Income Tax Form

In the previous activity, you looked at the reasons for paying taxes and filing income tax returns. In this activity, you will learn about the basic steps to follow to complete an income tax form.

You will usually receive the appropriate forms to complete your income tax return in the mail. You can also pick up the forms at your local post office or by contacting the CRA at its website http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca or by telephone at 1-800-959-8281.

The basic documents you will need to complete your income tax return are the "General Income Tax and Benefit Return," "Schedule 1," and the "T4" information slip you receive from your employer.

Employers must send these to employees by the end of February every year according to the law. This will allow individuals to complete their tax return forms by the end of April. The T4 is very important, because it shows most of the information you need to include on your income tax return. For example:

• how much money you were paid over the year
• how much money was deducted over the year for income tax
• how much money was deducted over the year for CPP contributions
• how much money was contributed over the year for EI premiums

To see what a T4 slip looks like see this example provided by Canada Revenue Agency.

Depending on what other expenses you are able to claim, you may also need receipts for such things as Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) contributions, tuition or textbooks, donations to charity, and other similar expenses. You will also fill out Form 428, which calculates your provincial tax.

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Click the link below to view the T1 General Income Tax and Benefit Return.

T1 Form

You will watch a video, below, and then practise completing a T1 Return in the following assignment.

Self-check!