Jonathan Friesen, CPA
43320 Water Mill Way V2R 0Z4 Lindell Beach, BC

Are you self-employed? If so, your tax return is due June 15th. Any taxes payable were due on May 1. Let me know if I can help you out.

It's April now. Get your tax information in soon. Deadline is May 1 this year. Self employed people have until June 15 (although any taxes payable are due May 1).

Did you sell your home in 2016? New tax rules require you to disclose information pertaining to the sale of the home on your personal tax return. You will still be able to take advantage of the Principal Residence Exemption (you won't have to pay any tax on the sale), as long as it was your principal residence for all the years it was owned, and you did not earn any significant income from it.

2016 is the last year to claim the Children's Art & Fitness Tax Credits. You can claim up to $500 per child for eligible fitness programs (e.g. hockey, baseball, etc.) and $250 for eligible arts programs (e.g. Scouts, 4 Cats, etc.); you can claim twice those amounts for children who are eligible for the disability tax credit. Make sure to track down those receipts!

Less than one week left to make RRSP contributions for the 2016 tax year! If you don't like the returns the banks provide (they are horrible), but you don't know very much about investing (there is a lot to know), you could look at a robo-advisor such as Wealthsimple or Wealthbar. A robo-advisor automatically adjusts investments monthly to meet your predetermined risk aversion and investment horizon, all for a very low cost (~0.5%). Full disclosure: I use Wealthsimple - i have preauthorized payments every two weeks that contribute to my RRSP. I do absolutely no other work other than periodically check on how it's going. The return in the past year has been 12.2%, which is pretty darn good for having to do no work.