Photo: iStock/yalayama. It’s tax time again—the deadline for filing your 2016 tax return is May 1 (you get an extra day this year because the usual April 30 cutoff falls on a Sunday). Unless you owe nothing, you don’t want to be late because Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will charge you five per cent of any outstanding balance, plus one per cent for each month your return remains late (to a maximum of 12 months). If you were also late in any of the previous three years, the penalties could be doubled. There will also be interest charges, so make sure you’re on time, even if it means initially sending an incomplete return. Those with modest incomes and relatively simple finances may qualify for free tax return preparation help from the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP).

1. 2016 California Income Tax Tables

This program, a collaboration between CRA and local community groups, can be accessed by phone at 1-800-959-8281 or online at cra-arc.gc.ca. Those with high incomes and complex finances will naturally want to seek the advice of an accountant or other qualified tax specialist.

For the rest, if you have a computer, you should definitely consider a government-endorsed tax return software program such as TurboTax or UFile—a list of CRA-certified software programs is available at efile.cra.gc.ca/efile. These tax preparation programs are relatively inexpensive, and they can eliminate the need for a whole slew of paperwork: forms, schedules, worksheets, guides, pamph­lets, interpretation bulletins, et cetera. They automatically perform the dozens of calculations and cross-references involved in even a relatively straightforward federal income tax return, and they’ll complete your provincial/territorial return, as well. Of course, you still have to enter all the relevant raw data, whether you do it by hand or by keystroke, so you still need to know what’s important and what’s not and, at least in broad strokes, how and why it affects your taxes—not just so that you can avoid omissions and errors in your return, but also to help structure your future finances for optimal tax results.

To that end, the following are some key points for retirees to consider as they complete this year’s return. Just bear in mind that this brief summary is far from comprehensive—our tax rules span thousands of pages—so professional help may still be in order, especially if your financial affairs are complicated. Here We Go On the return itself, you must first complete the identification section on page 1 and the foreign property declaration at the top of page 2. If you own any “specified foreign property” with a total cost (as opposed to market value) of more than $100,000, you must complete Form T1135, Foreign Income Verification Statement. Specified foreign property excludes:. foreign property held in TFSAs, RRSPs, and other registered plans, or in Canadian mutual funds;.

foreign property used or held exclusively for business purposes; or. personal‑use property (such as that condo in Florida or Arizona, provided it isn’t being rented out).

If you earned income from foreign properties and paid foreign tax on it, the tax can’t be deducted on Form T1135—you have to claim the foreign tax credit on line 54 of Schedule 1, after completing Form T2209, Federal Foreign Tax Credits. Total Income (Lines 101 to 150) On page 2, you must declare all your income for 2016 but can exclude certain items, including:. Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) withdrawals;. life insurance proceeds due to a death;. gifts and inheritances;.

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GST/HST credits;. lottery winnings; and. provincial/territorial compensation for victims of criminal acts or motor vehicle accidents. For those still working, employment income goes on lines 101 (wages and salaries as per T4 slips), 102 (commissions), and 104 (other employment earnings such as tips or royalties, occasional earnings or grants, taxable insurance benefits, etc.). Totals on line 101 are eligible for the Canada employment amount of up to $1,161 on line 363 of Schedule 1. If Canada/Quebec Pension Plan (CPP/QPP) premiums were deducted from your pay, you can claim a non-refundable credit on line 308, after completing either Schedule 8 or Form RC381 (see the General Tax Guide for instructions). Old Age Security (OAS) and CPP/QPP benefits go on lines 113 and 114, respectively, while other pension benefits (including most foreign pension income, for which you may be able to claim a deduction on line 256) go on line 115; CPP/QPP disability benefits go on line 152.

If you were 65-plus at the end of 2016, you can include RRIF, LIF, annuity, Saskatchewan Pension Plan (SPP), and pooled registered pension plan (PRPP) payments on line 115, and they’ll be eligible for the $2,000 pension credit on line 314 of Schedule 1; if you were younger than 65, these items go on line 130. All pension income from line 115 can be shared between spouses/partners to help lower your combined taxes. To shift such income from one partner to another, both of you must complete Form T1032, Joint Election to Split Pension Income, and the recipient must declare it on line 116 while the donor claims a corresponding deduction on line 210. The taxable amounts of Canadian “eligible” dividends go on line 120, while “other than eligible” dividends are accorded a reduced tax credit and go on line 180 after you complete Schedule 4.

If you do have any Canadian dividend income from your investments, don’t forget to claim the federal dividend tax credit on line 49 of Schedule 1. In some cases, it may be tax-advantageous to claim dividends received by a low-income spouse/partner on your own return—refer to the Guide for details. Foreign dividends should be entered on line 121 and aren’t eligible for the credit.

Interest (and other income—line 121) is generally taxable in the year it’s paid or credited to you, but interest from multi-year investments such as GICs must be reported on anniversaries of the date when the investment was purchased, even though it’s not paid until maturity. So if, for example, you bought a multi-year GIC in June 2017, you would report the first year’s income (through May 2018) when you do your 2018 return the following April. Registered disability savings plan (RDSP) beneficiaries must report withdrawals on line 125—contributions made to the plan aren’t tax-deductible and withdrawals of these contributions aren’t taxable, but Canada disability savings grants and bonds, as well as rollover amounts and investment income earned within the plan, are taxable when withdrawn. If you earned any rental income in 2016, the gross amount goes on line 160 and the net amount goes on line 126, accompanied by a completed Form T776, Statement of Real Estate Rentals. For more information on rental income and expenses, get a copy of Guide T4036, Rental Income. Only half of any capital gain you realize during the year needs to be reported on line 127, after you complete Schedule 3.

If the gains arise from selling or redeeming mutual fund units, get a copy of Information Sheet RC4169 ( Tax Treatment of Mutual Funds for Individuals). If the gains arise from the donation of capital property, refer to Guide T4037 ( Capital Gains) and Pamphlet P113 ( Gifts and Income Tax). And if you are completing a final return for someone who passed away in 2016, get a copy of Guide T4011 ( Preparing Returns for Deceased Persons). Capital losses can’t be deducted from other income—they can be used only to offset capital gains earned in current or future years, or within the three previous calendar years (after completing Form T1A, Request for Loss Carryback). RRSP withdrawals are reported on line 129. If you contributed to a spousal RRSP (or your spouse contributed to your RRSP) and money is withdrawn from that plan that same year or in the two following years, the withdrawal will be attributed back to the contributor rather than being taxable to the spouse. In such cases, the contributor must complete Form T2205, Amounts from a Spousal or Common-Law Partner RRSP, RRIF, or SPP to Include in Income, and enter the resulting amount on line 129.

Repayments under the Lifelong Learning Plan (LLP) or the Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP) also go on this line. Business, professional, commission, farming, or fishing income (gross and net) go in the self-employment section near the bottom of page 2, based on the appropriate Statement of Income and Expenses.

Note that you may have to pay CPP premiums on these earnings on line 421, after completing either Schedule 8 or Form RC381, but you can claim a deduction on line 222 and a further credit on line 310. If you report any social assistance payments on line 145 or net federal supplements (per box 21 of your T4A(OAS) slip) on line 146, you may be able to claim an offsetting deduction on line 250. Such amounts generally aren’t taxable, but the net figure is applied in other calculations.

Line 130 is for all taxable income not reported elsewhere, including:. annuity, PRPP, RRIF, or LIF payments if you were under 65 at the end of 2016;. retiring allowances;. death benefits (other than from CPP/QPP);. payments from a trust per T3 slips; and.

lump-sum payments from pensions and deferred profit-sharing plans (DPSPs). If you received such a payment in 2016 and it covered a number of previous years, you must report it all here, but if the previous years’ portion is $3,000 or more, you can apply to have it spread over those previous years (and thus get a tax reduction) by completing Form T1198, Statement of Qualifying Retroactive Lump-Sum Payment. Special rules apply to lump-sum Canada/Quebec Pension Plan (CPP/QPP) payments, which go on line 114. In this case, Service Canada will send you a letter indicating the amounts applying to previous years and if you attach this letter to a paper tax return and mail it in, CRA will make the necessary adjustments to your return(s).

Photo: iStock/vladwel. Net and Taxable Income (Lines 206 to 260) After entering your total income from line 150 at the top of page 3, you claim various deductions to arrive first at a “net” income figure and then a “taxable” income figure. The net income figure is used for various other tax and benefit calculations, hence the two-step approach. Deductions of possible significance to retirees as well as those contemplating retirement include:. contributions to registered retirement or pension plans, and a pension adjustment figure for those with the latter (lines 206 through 208). All these amounts must be supported by information slips.

the pension-splitting deduction noted earlier (line 210). a disability supports deduction (line 215) for expenses incurred by a disabled person to earn income or go to school, provided the same expenses aren’t claimed by you or someone else as medical expenses on line 330 or 331 of Schedule 1.

Refer to Guide RC4064, Disability-Related Information, for more details on allowable expenses. small business investment losses (lines 217 and 228). For more information, refer to Guide T4037, Capital Gains.

carrying charges and interest expenses (line 221). These include investment management and custodial fees (but not administrative fees for RRSPs and RRIFs); certain fees for investment advice (see Interpretation Bulletin IT-238, Fees Paid to Investment Counsel); fees for completing your tax return if you have business or rental income (see Interpretation Bulletin IT-99, Legal and Accounting Fees); interest on money borrowed for investment purposes, provided some interest or dividend income is earned. Refer to the General Tax Guide for further information. CPP or QPP contributions on self-employment and other earnings (line 222), along with a completed Schedule 8 or Form RC381. See the General Tax Guide for details, and don’t forget to claim a corresponding credit on line 308 or 310 of Schedule 1.

By. Jan 10, 2017 For an update to this post, check out our blog post. California is the most populous state in the union, and California residents love to shop online. Because of this, many TaxJar users have to deal with California state sales tax. Whether you’re based in California, use California as your West Coast base of operations, or sell with FBA and store products in a California Amazon fulfillment center, chances are you file and remit sales tax in the Golden State.

The Basics of California State Sales Tax California sales tax rate: The California sales tax rate is 7.25%. This rate is made up of 6.25% state sales tax rate and a 1.00% rate in each California county. This is a.25% decrease from 2016’s California state sales tax rate. California local sales tax rates: These vary by district. Find the most up-to-date.

How to collect sales tax in California: California is a modified-origin state, which makes figuring out just how much you are supposed to collect in sales tax a little (okay, a lot) confusing. Long story short, California requires that you collect from buyers the California state sales tax rate of 7.25% plus a district rate. You can find out a whole lot more about collecting sales tax in California Important Note for Amazon sellers: Amazon treats California as a destination-based state when it comes to sales tax collection. If you’re using TaxJar to report how much sales tax you collected in California, you’ll find that it’s easier to.

How to File a Sales Tax Return in California: Just as collecting sales tax in California can be tricky, so is filing. Click here for a guide on (the easy way!) Or check out our step-by-step video: Got Nexus in California? If you are an online seller and have sales tax nexus in a state, then you are required to collect sales tax from buyers in that state. If you have nexus in California, ensure that you are signed up to collect sales tax.

2016 California Income Tax Tables

Click here for. If you sell on FBA and you’re not sure whether you have sales tax nexus in California, check out these resources:. Or you can sign up for a and we’ll show you from which Amazon fulfillment centers your items have shipped. What’s New in California Sales Tax for 2017? Sales Tax Rate Decrease: The California sales tax rate decrease from 7.5% to 7.25% comes as a result of the expiration of a temporary education sales tax. For the latest sales tax news and updates. California continuing to attempt to collect consumer use tax: California is continuing their education campaign to try and persuade online shoppers to remit any consumer use tax they might owe.

Consumer use tax is owed by a buyer when they are not charged sales tax on an item due to the fact that the online seller does not have nexus in the state. The BOE’s (perhaps unintentionally hilarious) video has more info for California consumers. More California Resources: Join our – Thursday, January 24th, 10am PT/1pm ET.