Canada Income Tax Software – Web Version

Read Canada Tax Preparation Software 2008 Windows Version Review Here

Each year, I review Canadian income tax preparation software programs. However, you will never find me reviewing brand name and # 1 best-selling software programs. Fancy software programs have fancy price tags, and I don’t see any reason to use those. A low-cost, regular software program should do the job fine and my objective is to show you a few of those. In this article, I will review a few web based software programs. To read my review on Windows version tax programs, read - Canada Tax Preparation Software 2008 Windows Version Review

Canada Tax Software – Canada Personal Finance Website’s Top Picks

After researching all online based software programs, the following programs are my picks for this year. I have not picked too many to keep things simple. Go through each of these I mentioned and choose the one you think most suitable for your needs.

ACE Tax

• Has the ability to copy your tax information from past years.
• Once you are done with your return, you can delete all your information from Ace Tax servers.
• One user ID lets you file up to 20 returns.
• Price: $8.99 for first time user. Returning user pays $6.99

MBO Tax

• Two filing to choose from. One for experienced users and one for new users.
• Friendly user interface provides flexible and easy data entry options.
• Easy explicit links take you to related forms and worksheets
• Price: $9.95

Two other software programs worth mentioning:

Cute Tax and Each Tax.

Remember, these software programs are totally free if your total income (line 150) is less than $25,000.

Quick Fact

• Deadline for 2008 Tax Returns: April 30, 2009
• Penalty for late filing: 5% of your 2008 balance owing, plus 1% of your balance owing for each full month that your return is late, to a maximum of 12 months. For more info, visit Interest and the late-filing penalty
• EFILE: Don’t mix up EFILE with NETFILE. EFILE is a service that lets authorized and professional service providers send individual income tax return information to CRA by Internet. Tax professional cannot use NETFILE. They must use EFILE. Therefore, when you submit your own tax return = you use NETFILE and when tax professionals submit your tax return = they use EFILE.

Quick Fact Source: Canada Revenue Agency

Some hand-picked posts you may want to read:

Windows Version Canada Tax Software Review

2009 Federal Budget Highlights

Important Tax Dates For 2009

30 Free Canadian Financial Tools and Calculators

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Canadians are among the most heavily taxed in the industrialized world

To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, nothing in life is certain except for death and taxes. It is a legal requirement that we must pay tax on earnings and purchases in addition to other more specific levies that pay for our public services. This is a necessity, but that does not make it any less galling when the time comes to give up a portion of the money we have earned. Taxes are indeed such a vexed issue that those of us who can afford to often employ a financial advisor or accountant whose knowledge of the system can spare us at least some of the unnecessary tax expenses that often go unnoticed due to the less than total comprehensibility of the system.

One way to defray at least some of your tax burden is to invest some of your money in bonds. When a bond matures it is seen as a capital gain, and only half of the proceeds of capital gains are taxable under Canadian law. There are jobs that pay a portion of their salary as bonds for this very reason, although this is obviously unpractical for those whose income falls below a certain threshold. However, as Canada’s taxation system is progressive, with a higher rate paid by those on larger incomes, some people argue that this legal tax avoidance measure is simply a way of redressing an unfair balance.

Sales taxes also account for a portion of each Canadian citizen’s tax burden. Depending on which province the sale takes place, the tax on a sale can rise as high as 13%. Certainly all provinces other than Alberta have a Sales Tax level of 10% or more, with Alberta clocking in at a comparatively tiny 5%. Therefore, if it is practical for you to do a large amount of your purchasing in Alberta, this is one way in which you can avoid being stung for more cash. Prince Edward Island is comparatively a high sales tax area, with a  taxation level of 15.5% of the cost of the sale. Thus, an individual who pays most of their Sales Tax within Prince Edward Island can, at least in theory, unburden themselves of more than two-thirds of their tax loss by doing their shopping in Alberta.

Unlike most of the Western world, the Canadian government does not impose Inheritance Tax on its subjects. Inheritance is seen as another form of capital gain and therefore subject simply to Capital Gains tax just like bonds or stocks. Though to benefit from this absence of Inheritance tax, someone needs to die – which takes us neatly back to the words of Benjamin Franklin all those years ago. One other thing – if you like a cigarette and a beer, and drive an air-conditioned vehicle, then you are paying four different kinds of Excise tax. It might be time to look at whether you can walk to the liquor store.

Some hand-picked posts you may want to read:

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Canada Tax Deadlines 2009

Source: Canada Revenue Agency