Personal Tax Returns

What information will Ritchie Shortt & Tully LLP require to prepare my personal tax returns?

We send our clients the following letter and attachments. If you have misplaced your copy or have just become a client of Ritchie Shortt & Tully LLP, a copy of the letter and attachment is available here: T1 Mailing Letter 2024 and Personal Income Tax Questionnaire 2024. These are required for your personal tax return.

If you require us to report your business or professional activities, please use our Business and Professional Activities Worksheet 2024. You can print it out and fill it in. Additional information must be reported if you earn income from your webpages or websites. Please see details here: Internet Business Activities.

If you require us to report your rental income, please complete the rental summary: Real Estate Rental Worksheet 2024. Please read new rules below for deductibility of expenses incurred to earn income from short-term rental.

You may also find some of our excel worksheets helpful in summarizing your information.  These can be found in Calculation Tools under the Resources section of the website.

We will also need to know if you owned specified foreign property in excess of $100,000 CDN. Form T1135, is the Foreign Income Verification Statement that must be filed. Taxpayers who held specified foreign property with a total cost amount of $100,000 to $250,000, throughout the year, can report under the simplified reporting method rather than providing the detail of each such property. Taxpayers who held specified foreign property with a total cost amount of $250,000 or more, at any time during the year, must report using the detailed reporting method. More information on foreign income verification.

To help you determine if you need to disclose your foreign holdings, please refer to pages 4 to 6 of the form to review the types of specified foreign property that must be included.

Work Space in the Home Expenses – Detailed method is your only option now

If you worked from home in 2024, in limited cases, you may be able to make a claim based on actual expenses incurred, pro-rated for business use. (NOTE: The temporary flat rate method whereby employees could deduct $2/day that they worked from home in 2022 is not available in 2024.)

To claim a deduction for your expenses related to working from home, one of the following criteria has to be met:

• the home was where you mainly (more than 50% of the time) did your work for a period of at least four consecutive weeks in the year, or
• you used the space exclusively to earn business/employment income, and used it on a regular and ongoing basis for in-person meetings with clients, customers or other people in respect of the business/employment.

Examples for different work arrangements: Click here

In addition, if you are making a claim by virtue of employment, your employer should provide you with a signed T2200.

Direct Deposit

Canada Revenue Agency will soon stop mailing tax refunds and other benefits. We urge you to set up direct deposit at this time. This can be done online through “My Account” (if you are registered), by phone (call 1-800-959-8281) or at your financial institution. More information is available on CRAs website (Form).

Canada Caregiver Amount

The Canada caregiver amount has replaced the family caregiver amount, the amount for infirm dependants age 18 or older, and the caregiver amount. You could be entitled to claim this amount in the calculation of certain non-refundable tax credits if the person you are making the claim for has an impairment in physical or mental functions. There is a $2,616 tax credit available to caregivers of infirm relatives including spouses, common-law partners and minor children. Find out more on Caregiver Credits.

Tuition, Education and Textbook Amounts

For 2024 federal tax purposes, the tuition credit is available; however, the education and textbook credit is no longer available.  For Ontario tax purposes, the tuition and education and textbook credits are no longer available.

Short-term Rental

Changes to the income tax rules now deny income tax deductions related to non-compliant short-term rentals after 2023. A non-compliant short-term rental, is a short-term rental that:

• is located in a province or municipality that does not permit short-term rentals to operate at that location; or
• does not comply with all applicable provincial or municipal registration, licensing and permit requirements for operating a short-term rental.

When calculating income earned from a short-term rental, the deduction of expenses incurred on non-compliant short-term rentals are not allowed. More information on short-term rental rules.

Disposition of residential property owned for less than 365 days

Effective January 1, 2023, all gains arising from the disposition of residential property (including rental property and assignment sales) owned for less than 365 days are deemed to be business income (and not capital gains) unless a particular exception is met.  Some of the exceptions include the following reasons for disposition: due to a death, separation, birth, safety issue, illness/disability, employment change, insolvency or involuntary disposition. More information on property flipping.  For a detailed listing of exceptions click here.

Reporting the sale of your principal residence for individuals (other than trusts)

When you sell your principal residence or when you are considered to have sold it, you must report the sale on your income tax and benefit return.  Generally, you do not have to pay tax on any gain from the sale. This is the case if you are eligible for the full income tax exemption (principal residence exemption) because the property was your principal residence for every year you owned it.

You will be required to report basic information (date of acquisition, proceeds of disposition and description of the property) on your income tax and benefit return when you sell your principal residence to claim the full principal residence exemption. More information on the sale of principal residence.

Please note that if you own more than one property in any year (say your house and a cottage), then you can designate only one of those properties as your principal residence in any particular year.  You may want to consult with us to ensure that you are making the optimum choice in claiming the principal residence exemption.

Multigenerational Home Renovation Tax Credit

For the 2023 and subsequent taxation years, Budget 2022 introduced the Multigenerational Home Renovation Tax Credit (MHRTC), a refundable credit to assist with the cost of renovating an eligible dwelling to establish a secondary unit that enables a qualifying individual (a senior or an adult who is eligible for the disability tax credit) to live with a qualifying relation. The credit is available for qualifying expenditures made or incurred after December 31, 2022, for services performed or goods acquired after that date. More information on claiming the Mutigenerational Home Renovation Tax Credit.

Credits not available to claim in 2024

For the 2024 taxation year, the following tax credits are not available:

• Ontario Staycation credit – The Ontario staycation tax credit is no longer available for the 2023 and later tax years. This was only temporarily available for the 2022 tax year.
• Children’s Fitness credit – The last year for claiming the Children’s Fitness credit was 2016 and this credit is no longer available.
• Public Transit credit – The federal public transit tax credit was eliminated on July 1, 2017. However, Ontario seniors (65+) can still claim the Ontario seniors’ public transit tax credit.
• Safety deposit box – As of the 2014 tax year, safety deposit box fees are no longer deductible on the personal tax return.