2023 – Individual Income Tax Return (T1) Checklist
Efiling Status: Canada Revenue Agency systems to allow electronic filing of Individual Income tax returns (T1) for 2023 on February 19, 2024.
We have compiled the below checklist so that you can compile the information needed for your personal income tax return preparation.
Please note,
- The information listed in the below checklists is for each taxpayer. If your spouse’s or common-law partner’s tax return is also part of this engagement, (s)he also needs to arrange for the below information.
- This is a preliminary checklist only. Throughout the tax season, we’ll keep on updating this list.
- At the time of tax return preparation, you will be requested specific information about your tax situation. Please consult that correspondence at that time. You must disclose all information in order to determine the full reporting requirements.
Personal information
All taxpayers must provide this information, as applicable to them.
| Legal Name | First, Middle, and Last name as per the CRA account. A client having a middle name or a surname consisting of multiple names must provide the last year’s notice of assessment and/or a copy of an accepted tax return. |
| If you changed your name in 2023, please indicate. | |
| Social Insurance Number | Your Canadian social insurance number or ITN. |
| Gender | Gender |
| Date of Birth | Date of Birth |
| Contact details | Phone Number |
| Email Address | |
| Mailing address, with postal code. For foreign addresses please provide details in English. | |
| Marital Status | Marital Status as of 2023/12/31. If there is any change in marital status during the year, please provide the date and type of the change. |
| Residence | Please provide information if you change your residence for tax purposes in Canada. |
| For residents of Canada, please provide the province of residence as of the last day of the year i.e. 2023/12/31 | |
| If your province of residence changed during the year, or after the tax year end, please provide further details. | |
| Newcomers to Canada (Immigrants), please provide additional information listed further down in the list. | |
| Leavers (emigrants), please provide additional information | |
| Non-residents, or deemed non-residents of Canada, provide additional information and discuss the reporting requirements with your assigned tax preparer. | |
| Citizenship | Are you a Canadian citizen? |
| If yes, do you want to share your information with Elections Canada? | |
| Spouse/Common-law Partner Information | Full Legal Name |
| Date of birth | |
| SIN(Social Insurance Number) | |
| Net Income (Required, if your spouse’s tax return is prepared by us, please ignore this.) | |
| Dependents | Full Legal Names, SIN(s), Date of Birth(s), Relationship with them(If Any) |
| Foreign Property | Do you own any foreign property/assets worth more than 100,000 Canadian dollars at any time in 2023? |
| A yes or no answer is required! If yes, please provide further information. If you do not indicate to us or do not provide any information at tax preparation time, we’ll mark it as “no”. |
Information Slips (from Canada)
Please send the below information slips, as applicable to you.
The client must provide a list of all information slips to ensure accuracy and completeness. In case we have the authorization, and the data is downloaded from CRA’s website using AFR even then a list of slips must be provided to us as some of the slips are not always available online. This is very common in the earlier months of the tax season.
| T4 slips | If you earned any employment or commission income during the year, please provide Employment Income slips from all employers. |
| T4E | If you received any employment insurance benefits? Please attach the T4E slip. |
| T4A | Statement of Pension, Retirement, Annuity, and Other Income |
| T5 | Statement of Investment Income |
| T3 | Statement of Trust Income Allocations and Designations |
| T4-COVID-19 | Benefits received – CERB, CRB, CRCB, etc. (if you repaid benefits you have the option to deduct in the current year or year you received those benefits) |
| T5013 | Statement of Partnership Income. |
| T5008 | Statement of Securities Transactions |
| T4A(P) | Statement of Canada Pension Plan Benefits |
| T4A(OAS) | Statement of Old Age Security |
| T4RSP | Statement of RRSP Income. Please inform us if you have Homebuyer’s plan, a lifelong learning plan, or withdrawing excess contributions. |
| T4RIF | Statement of income from a Registered Retirement Income Fund |
| T5007 | Statement of Benefits – Workers Compensation or Social Assistance benefits |
| T2202 (Tuition Slips) | T2202 slips issued by your school, college or university |
| T4FHSA | First Home Savings Account Statement |
| Other Slips | If there is any other slip not mentioned here. |
Other Information for Canadian Tax Returns
Please provide the below information.
Note: If you have authorized us for at least Level 1 access, some items may not be required to be sent to us.
| Notice of Assessment for last year (NOA) | We require a notice of assessment from the previous year. You do not have to provide If you are an existing client, or have authorized us with CRA for at least Level 1 access. |
| CRA correspondence | If there is any ongoing correspondence with CRA, any objection or appeals, please provide details. |
| Installments to CRA | Please provide the total amount of instalments paid if you made instalments to CRA towards the current tax year. (Not needed in case we have at least level 1 authorization). |
| Carry-Forward Amounts | Tuition carry-forward or any loss carry-forward amounts. (not needed in case of CRA-level access). |
| Tuition Transfers | If your spouse or child has transferred any tuition credits to you in the current year, please provide the details. If we are preparing their tax returns, no need. |
| Northern Resident’s Deductions | All Northern resident’s deductions receipts |
| Certifications(If Any) | Disability Tax Credit Certificate |
| Volunteer Firefighters Certification | |
| Search and Rescue Volunteer Certification | |
| Principal residence | Please let us know if you disposed of your principal residence, changed its use or it was subject to a deemed disposition for any other reason. If you do not provide any information on this, we’ll check mark disposition of the principal residence as no. |
| Capital gains | The sale or deemed sale of stocks, bonds, or real estate properties. Refer to the Capital gains section |
| Rental income and associated expenses | If you generated rental income, in Canada or outside Canada, please provide information in the rental income section. |
| RRSP deductions | RRSP deductions limit and unused amounts. Not required in case of at least Level 1 access. |
| Self-employed individuals, Unincorporated businesses | Self-employed individuals, unincorporated businesses running a business, professional services, or farm and fishing. Please provide automobile expenses, office-in-home expenses, and other deductions. |
| Foreign income (business or non-business) | |
| Foreign assets/properties |
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| Leavers from Canada | Leavers from Canada in 2023 (emigrants), please consult the additional checklist for emigrants. |
| Newcomers to Canada | Newcomers to Canada in 2023 (immigrants), additional checklist |
Expenses for Deductions and Credits
We have compiled a list of the most common situations for common credits and deductions.
The list is for identification purposes, deductions and credits have specific rules. It may appear by the name that certain deductions and credits can be claimed but not everyone is eligible for that. Where possible we have added links for more information. Please review the information contained on those pages. If you are not sure, you can always ask your tax preparer at the time of preparation.
Important to know:
- An income tax deduction reduces your tax at your top marginal rate.
- A credit generally reduces your tax by the lowest tax rate. Refundable credits are paid back to you even if there are no taxes whereas non-refundable tax credits reduce your tax liability. A Foreign Tax Credit is a dollar-for-dollar credit against the tax on that foreign-sourced income subject to rules.
You can gather information related to below deductions:
| Medical expenses | Taxpayer’s/dependent’s Name – Date, Expense description, To whom & how much paid. Provide a summary. Please mention if you travelled for medical treatment for further information. |
| Medical expense tax credit (METC) for surrogacy and other expenses is expanded now. More details are here. | |
| Detailed information on medical expenses can be found here. | |
| RRSP Contributions receipts | The RRSP receipt shows the date of the contribution, the amount of the contribution, and the name of the financial institution. For the contributions made in the first 60 days of 2023, please provide the receipt. |
| FHSA Contributions (New 2023) | If you have contributed to the FHSA Account, please provide a copy of T4FHSA and discuss further with your preparer. |
Home Office Expenses (Changes 2023) | You cannot claim a temporary flat rate in 2023. You must have T2200 from your employer and use the detailed method. |
| Support payments | Support from a child, spouse, or common law partner. There are specific rules for their deductibility. |
| Professional or Union dues | The dues must be paid to maintain or improve the individual’s skills in their current job or profession and the individual must have received income from employment or business during the year and the expenses must be reasonable in the circumstances. Please provide the Name, Date paid, and Amount. |
| Charitable donations | The donation must be made to a registered charity or other qualified donees, and the individual must have official donation receipts for the donations that they want to claim. Provide a list including the Date, Amount, and Charity name. Please ensure you have tax slips from the charities. |
| Political contributions | The contribution must be made to a registered political party or a candidate for office. Provide a list including the Date, Amount, and Political Party/Candidate name. Please ensure you have tax slips in your records. |
| Childcare expenses | The expenses must be for the purpose of earning income from employment or self-employment and must be for a child who is under the age of 16 at the end of the tax year, or for a child who is dependent on the individual due to a mental or physical infirmity. Provide the tax receipts issued from the daycare or other service provider, with their SIN, or BN mentioned there. If you have issued T4s to them, please attach them. |
| Moving expenses | Moving expenses must be related to the individual’s job, education, or self-employed business. Not all the moves are eligible, you must meet the purpose and distance test. Please indicate this and discuss it with your tax preparer at the time of preparation. For more information click here. |
| For tradesperson and apprentice, labour Mobility deduction. | |
| Digital news subscription expenses | You can claim up to $500 for digital news subscription expenses. In order to claim the credit, the payments must be qualifying subscription expenses. Generally a qualified Canadian Journalism Organization (QCJO) without a broadcasting license. Not sure if your digital subscription qualified for this credit? Click here to access the list of qualifying digital news subscription. |
| Employment expenses | In order to deduct employment expenses, you must have a T2200 issued from your employer in Canada. If you believe your employee expenses are deductible for employment outside of Canada, please discuss this with your tax preparer. More information on employment expenses click here. |
| Carrying charges and Interest expenses | It includes expenses such as interest, management and other fees, or other costs, incurred to earn income from a property or investment. This is an easily overlooked deduction. Detailed information can be found here. |
| Student loan interest | Student loan interest paid by you or personal related to you. For more information on student loan interest, click here. |
| Exam Expenses | The exam fees and other expenses incurred by an individual in order to obtain a professional status or certification in their field of employment. It includes fees for professional exams, books, and materials required to prepare for the exam, and travel and accommodation expenses related to the exams for professional certification. |
| Home buyers’ amount | A first-time home buyer can claim a credit of up to $10,000 ($5,000 for previous years) on their taxes for the cost of buying or building a qualifying home, and the person must not have owned a home that they lived in during the previous four years and must intend to live in the home as a principal residence within one year of purchasing or building it. More information about the Home buyer’s amount can be found here. |
| Pension income splitting (for seniors) | Pension splitting is the optimization of taxes for a couple to lower the combined tax load. It can be utilized by individuals receiving: |
| – Registered Pension Plan (RPP) income | |
| – Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) income | |
| – Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) income | |
| – Annuity income from a life annuity, a term certain annuity, or a registered annuity | |
| – Income from a foreign pension plan that is taxable in Canada | |
| Scholarships, fellowships and bursaries | The scholarships, bursaries, and fellowships used for the students like tuition fees, books, and other required materials for their program of study are eligible for tax deductions but the portion of the money that is used for non-educational expenses (e.g., living expenses) will be considered as taxable income. To review the rules related to this, please find more information here. |
| Ontario Staycation (2022 Tax Year only) | The temporary Ontario Staycation Tax Credit is a personal income tax credit for eligible Ontario residents to claim 20% of qualified accommodation expenses for vacations taken during 2022 in Ontario. Please provide a summary containing ALL of this information: Paid to, Description and Amount. You do not have to send us a receipt but must keep them in your records if your expenses are reviewed by CRA. Before you provide these expenses, please review the details on eligibility expenses here. |
| Provide this information only if your 2022 tax return is being prepared by us. | |
| Climate Action Incentive | If you are entitled you will receive these payments on a quarterly basis. However, at the time of tax preparation, you should indicate whether you reside outside Census Metropolitan Area (CMA). |
| Ontario Senior’s Public Transit Tax Credit (Seniors only) | Please provide qualifying payments for Public transit passes, electronic payment cards, tickets, and specialized transportation services for disabled people (receipts needed). More information can be found here. |
| Educator School Supplies (for educators only) | If you are a teacher in Canada and have eligible credentials, you can claim up to $1,000 of eligible supplies expenses. For more information on the Eligible educator school supply tax credit, please visit the site. |
| Tools deduction (tradespersons only) | It is for traders and workers (apprentice mechanics), and the expenses incurred for the purpose of earning income from employment. Please review the detailed information here. |
| Home accessibility expenses | The expenses incurred to improve the accessibility of a home for a person with a disability, including the individual or an individual related to them. It includes the cost of modifying a home such as installing a wheelchair ramp, modifying a bathroom or kitchen, or modifying a doorway to accommodate a wheelchair, etc. |
| Discuss this with your tax preparer and read the information provided on below link. | |
| The home accessibility amount for 2022 and later years to $20,000. | |
| Attendant care and care in facility | The expenses incurred for the care of an individual who is dependent on the taxpayer due to a mental or physical infirmity. It includes the cost of hiring a personal attendant, the cost of a nursing home or other care facility, or the cost of a daycare facility. Please go through this information before providing further information. |
| Adoption expenses | The expenses for the adoption of a child under the age of 18, it include fees paid to an adoption agency, legal and court costs, travel expenses, and mandatory training costs. More details on adoption expenses are here. |
| Other | Above are common deductions and credits. For any other deduction or credit you think you are eligible for, please discuss it with your tax preparer. |
Principal Residence
The below information is only required if you sold, or changed the use of your Principal residence during the tax year. This is a must question on the tax return, if you do not provide this information, the tax preparer will mark it as a”no’.
| Sale of Principal Residence (mandatory question) | Did you sell your principal home/residence in 2023? If yes, please provide the below information. |
| Address | Complete address of the property (Apt/Unit, Street, City, Province/Territory, Postal Code, and Country). |
| Year of acquisition | When was the property originally purchased? If you owned property for less than 12 months, please discuss with your tax preparer. |
| Proceeds of disposition | The amounts you received at disposition. |
| Principal Residence Designation | Was the property the principal residence for all the years the taxpayer-owned it? If you want to designate your principal residence for some years, not all, please discuss this with your tax preparer. |
| Past elections | Please provide any elections filed in the past. |
| Change of Use (in the current tax year) | Did you convert your principal residence to an income-producing property such as rental property? |
| Did you convert an income-producing property to a principal residence? | |
| If you emigrate (left Canada, became Non-Resident or deemed Non-Resident) please discuss and provide more information. |
Capital Gains / Dispositions
| T5008 | If you have received T5008s from the bank, please ensure the accuracy of the same. Ensure all the securities listed on T5008 have a corresponding cost column. Sometimes, your financial institution net-off selling expenses or commissions with the proceeds of disposition, please verify this. If the amounts are in foreign currency, please provide the cost for each of that security in CAD, converted on the date of purchase. |
| Day trading activities | If your trading behaviour indicates a day trading pattern, please discuss this with your tax preparer. For quick information on day trading vs capital gains. |
| Securities dispositions not reported on T5008 | If you have securities transactions that are not reported on T5008, for example, if you have 1099 from the U.S. or a similar document from some other country, please discuss it with your tax preparer. |
| Disposition of real estate, other than the Principal Residence | Please provide the sales agreement, cost basis, and selling expenses. Discuss further with your tax preparer. |
| Tax-deferred rollovers | Tax-deferred rollovers still require reporting on personal tax returns. For example, transferring property from a sole proprietorship to a corporation, or transferring shares to a holding corporation under Sec 85(1). Please discuss your organization and re-organization activities with your tax preparer. If this is new information for the tax preparer, it may involve a significant additional fee. |
| Lifetime Capital Gain Exemption | Discuss with the tax preparer if you sold the stock of a Qualified Small Business Corporation (QSBC) in Canada. |
| Aggregate Business Investment Loss | For ABIL, please discuss the same with your tax preparer. |
| Deemed dispositions | For deemed dispositions as a result of certain events, please discuss them with the tax preparer or refer to other sections of this list. |
Rental Income
(Residents of Canada only)
If you generated rental income, please arrange for the below information. Canadian residents must report rental income from both Canadian and Foreign properties.
Provide us a list of your rental properties:
- Rental properties inside Canada
- Rental properties outside Canada
Please do not send us receipts, instead, fill up the requested spreadsheet. You should not include any expense for which you do not have any supporting document or receipt. We shall provide you with a spreadsheet. In case of more than one property, please do not aggregate this information, instead use additional columns of the spreadsheet provided.
| Basic Information | Address of Property. Street address, city, province, and postal code. |
| Is the is a partnership? If Yes, Please provide the Legal Name of the owner(s), % your partner owns, and % of income Share | |
| If you are renting a portion of your house, please provide the Total Area of the house and the Area Rented | |
| Rental Income | Gross Rent, Any extra income |
| Rental Expenses | Advertising |
| Insurance | |
| Interest and Bank Charges (Make sure to include interest only as part of the mortgage payment, do not include the principal). If you cannot find this information, please call your bank. An actual amount is needed, not an estimate. | |
| Office expenses | |
| Professional fees (includes legal and accounting fees) | |
| Management and administration fees | |
| Repairs and maintenance | |
| Salaries, wages, and benefits (including employer’s contributions) | |
| Property taxes | |
| Travel | |
| Utilities | |
| Motor vehicle expenses (not including capital cost allowance) | |
| Other expenses (provide a categorized breakup) | |
| Capital Cost Allowance | Not recommended for Principal Residences), For opening CCA, please attach your last year’s tax return. |
| Any Additions During the year(If Any) | Equipment, Building, and improvements etc. |
| Dispositions | Dispositions during the year(If Any) |
| Additional information for properties located outside Canada | Address of the property: Street address, city, region, postal code, country. Foreign taxes paid (only allocated and apportioned up to the rental income taxed in a foreign country). These are not property or use taxes. Attach foreign tax return copy. Discuss this with your tax preparer. If your property is located in the United States, and we prepared your U.S. taxes, do not provide this information. If your U.S. tax return is prepared by another firm, please attach 1040 or 1040NR in its entirety. You still need to provide income and expenses as listed above even if they are mentioned on your U.S. tax return as well. |
Self-employment income/business income
If you were self-employed or operated an unincorporated business, please provide the information detailed here.
We shall be sending you a spreadsheet to fill up the precise information required for tax preparation. If you do not have a summary of income and expenses or have the bookkeeping done, please discuss it with your tax return preparer.
Please follow the below link.
Business and Professional Income (T1)
Newcomers (immigrants) to Canada
If you moved to Canada during the tax year, below information is needed:
- The date you moved to Canada, and the name of the country you moved from
- Is it your first time moving to Canada, or you are a returning resident?
- All the information as required above for residents of Canada, for the period starting after you moved to Canada. Please refer to the full checklist.
- For the part of the year, you were a non-resident of Canada, provide a summary of income earned outside Canada; nature of income, and amount. (Also provide the same for your spouse). If you have income from sources within Canada (Canadian sourced) when you were a nonresident of Canada, please indicate the same to us.
- Did you move from the U.S. to Canada?
Returning Residents
If you are a returning resident, please provide the same information as listed above for ‘immigrant’ to disclose the part-year information.
Important note: Returning residents do not have an exemption to file T1134 or T1135 for the first year they move into Canada. Please ensure to inform your tax preparer if you hold foreign assets/properties with a cost more than $100,000.
Emigrants (leavers) from Canada
If you left Canada, you can become a non-resident of Canada either by terminating the residential ties with Canada or by becoming a resident of another treaty country to treaty tie-breaker rules.
- Determine your residence status. Are you an emigrant? Please discuss.
- Date of change of residency
- List all of your assets subject to deemed disposition on the date you left Canada along with the Fair Market Value a day before the date of emigration. You must provide it in the form of a spreadsheet.
- If you moved out of your principal residence, please refer to this article and let the preparer know.
- All the information as required above for residents of Canada for the resident part of the year.
- For part of the year, you were a nonresident, provide the breakup of income outside and inside Canada separately. If any of that information is included on Canadian information slips.
- If you have rental income, Sec 216 tax return may be required for the part of the year you were a nonresident. Please provide a split of income into two parts of the year.
- If you owned a CCPC at the time of emigration, please refer to this post for more information. (CCPC shares are subject to deemed disposition).
Foreign Income and Assets
Foreign income and assets can get complex. At this moment we suggest discussing it with your tax preparer. To start with please provide a list of all assets to see if any asset is subject to reporting requirements for any purpose.
The most common situations that may arise are:
- Foreign employment income: Provide information returns or some document showing your gross income during the tax year. Provide a foreign tax return showing the final tax amount paid or owed to the foreign country. If there is a fiscal year mismatch between Canada and the foreign country, please show the calculations of the income and foreign taxes carved out.
- Foreign business income: If you have an “unincorporated business” and generate income from a foreign country that is also subject to income taxes or withholding taxes in a foreign country, let us know to provide a customized information request.
- Investment income: Investment income is subject to foreign taxes or withholding taxes paid to other countries. Please provide a summary worksheet.
- T1135 reporting requirement: If at any point of time during the tax year, you owned properties outside Canada with a cost of more than $100,000 CA. Not all assets require reporting. Assets such as cash at the bank, investment properties, partnership interests, stocks, mutual funds, brokerage accounts outside Canada, nonresidents owing debts to Canadian residents, and foreign assets held with Canadian registered securities dealers are some of the assets that require reporting. The reporting can be simple for an aggregate value of less than $250,000.
- T1134 reporting requirements: If you own shares of controlled or non-controlled foreign affiliates, you are required to file T1134. More information on T1134 can be found here.
- Foreign Accrual Property Income (FAPI): If you are generating passive income inside controlled foreign affiliates, you may have FAPI inclusion in your current tax year regardless of whether that income was distributed or not. FAPI issues can get very complex. For high-level information about FAPI, please consult this post. Discuss these matters with your professional tax accountant at Maroof HS.
- Hybrid Entities: If you own assets inside, or generate income inside a hybrid entity, there might be additional requirements. Discuss this with us. At this time, we only focus on hybrid entities causing cross-border income tax issues between U.S. and Canada.
U.S. Employment Income
If you were a non-resident of the U.S., either due to tie-breaker rules or not meeting the substantial presence test, you are required to report U.S. employment income in Canada.
Please provide below:
- Copy of W2 issued from the U.S. employer
- The U.S. federal, state, and city tax return
Sometimes, taxpayers file their own tax returns in the U.S. file form 1040 instead of 1040 (except for the U.S. Dual-status aliens).
If your U.S. tax returns are prepared by us, no need to provide the above information, however, indicate this at the time of tax preparation.
Non-residents deemed non-residents
Non-residents and deemed non-residents please refer to this checklist.
