Guide to tax returns for self-employed immigrants in Canada

With the improvement of people's living standards, more and more people plan to immigrate to Canada, so how do self-employed immigrants file tax returns? Next, let's take a look at the tax return guide for self-employed immigrants in Canada. Welcome to reading.

1. Charitable donations

There are several kinds of tax rebates related to charitable donations. There are two levels of federal tax refund for donations. The first level is that donations below 200 Canadian dollars enjoy a lower tax rebate rate, and those above 200 Canadian dollars enjoy a slightly higher tax rebate rate, which is the second level. Spouses can declare tax refund in the name of the other party, so it is more economical to declare the total donation of a family in the name of one spouse. Because the first-level tax rebate rate is only used once, the more donations you exceed, the more taxes you will be refunded. If you donate stocks, bonds or mutual funds, remember that only 37.5% of the capital gains they generate are your income.

2. Medical expenses (medical expenses)

Medical expenses can be declared and refunded, which is limited by income. In other words, the lower your net income, the higher the medical expenses you can declare. Spouses can declare medical expenses on behalf of the whole family, so the one with lower income should be allowed to declare. Please remember that this is a non-refundable credit, so the applicant needs to have enough income to get this tax refund. If you take care of the elderly, parents or grandparents, or young family members at home, you can declare a nursing tax credit.

3. Business owners

As a self-employed, you can declare some business-related expenses. For example, car expenses (gasoline, insurance, car rental, parking fees), membership fees of professional organizations, subscription fees of professional magazines, purchase fees of professional books, home office expenses, hospitality for entertaining guests, depreciation expenses of computer equipment, mobile phones and pagers, and wages paid to others, including family members, etc. In most cases, you can declare your own medical insurance instead of medical expenses. One thing to note is that if you declare the expenses of home office, it is best not to declare the depreciation expenses of the house as the office part at the same time, because although you can get a little tax refund this year, you will lose some of the tax-free asset appreciation income of the principal residence in the future.

4. Old receipts

When processing the receipt of your reportable expenses, please remember that the charitable tax refund can be used in any of the five years after the donation year, and the medical expense tax refund can be used in the year after the expenses occur 12 months.

5. Moving expenses (moving)

If you want to work, start a business or go to school nearby during the year, you can declare the expenses related to moving. In addition to the actual cost of inviting people to move, you can also declare the expenses of air tickets, accommodation, catering and so on during the settlement process. The cancellation fee of the original residence, or the related expenses for the sale of the original residence can also be declared, including the maintenance fee of the original residence. If the residence has not been sold before you move out, the fee can be as high as 5,000 yuan. These expenses can only be declared when you move for business or a new job. If your income in that year is not enough to declare all the relocation expenses, the rest can be postponed to the next year.

6. Tax returns for children.

You usually don't have to file tax returns for your children. But it's good to file tax returns for them. If your child is working as a nanny, delivering newspapers, shoveling snow and mowing grass or other summer jobs, helping them to declare tax refund can prepare for buying RRSP in the future.

7. Allowable business investment losses.