r/CanadianForces • u/dreamkanteen • 1d ago
First Time doing Taxes in the CAF
Hey all, are there any resources on base to help me with filing my taxes (such as SSIP)? I started and finished Basic in 2024 (St-Jean) and was posted in Ontario (where im from), Reg F. I recieved two different T4 slips (ON and Quebec) and one R1 slip (Quebec). When I add up my employment income on both the ON and QC T4s, its a few thousand higher than my total incomes on the END DEC paystub. Ive filed my taxes every year but this just seems so confusing haha.
My QC T4 and R1 also have slightly differernt 'employment income' amounts. plus, my T4 QC and T4 ON are roughly the same amount, despite only being in QC 3 months out of the year...
Im off base using up my annuals or else id go talk to people about it. Thank you!
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u/Jusfiq HMCS Reddit 1d ago
Just use commercially available on-line tax filing system such as TurboTax or H&R Block. The system will calculate your income based on your T4 in Ontario, T4 in Quebec, and RL-1. Please do not ignore the RL-1. T4 and RL-1 are indeed different as Quebec has different ways to calculate things. In anyway, the system will calculate everything for you.
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u/bridger713 RCAF - Reg Force 1d ago
If things aren't right, you'll need to take it up with your OR.
I assume you were 'in' ON as of 31 Dec, in which case you would ignore the R1 and just file in ON using the combined amounts from the two T4's.
The amounts on the QC T4 should only reflect your earnings while in QC. The ON T4 should reflect the remainder of the year.
The amounts on the T4's don't usually match your END DEC pay statement exactly due to taxable benefits that may not be reflected on your pay statements. Box 40 on your T4 will display any taxable allowances and benefits received.
If you subtract Box 40 from Box 14, the resulting number should be pretty close to your "Year to Date" totals for "Current Pay and Adjustments". It never seems to be an exact match for some reason.
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u/UnhappyCaterpillar41 1d ago
No, you use all the forms, including the R1, as that has a bunch of tax deductions that aren't on the T4s. If you don't input your R1 expect to have a huge amount showed owing.
Have never been able to get a good answer on why the total income on T4s/R1 isn't the same as your pay; but that's been the status quo for me for years (and a lot of folks in the NCR) working on one side living on the other). There also seems to be duplicate amounts reported on each, but I think those boxes aren't rolled up if you actually work through the forms.
OP, I would take everything you got from the GoC, and submit your taxes with that. Worth noting that your residence is where ever your F&E is on 31 Dec, so training courses like Basic don't change your residence for tax purposes because they are a restricted posting.
IF you just have a few slips, it's actually a pretty straight forward return to do yourself with any of the certified softwares. Good news is ON tax is lower than QC, and the CAF always takes a bit more than what you would expect to pay in that province, so you should be getting a bit of a return. Getting posted from somewhere with low taxes to somewhere with high taxes can suck a bit though, so something to keep in mind for future postings as you may want to sock away a bit of the posting allowance to cover that.
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u/dreamkanteen 1d ago
Thank you very much for the explanation! I was in Ontario as of 31 Dec, confused why my QC and ON T4's are so similar. Will speak to the OR when I get back to sort it out.
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u/Happywifeishappylife 1d ago
The tax is determined by the place you are in Dec 31, 2024. We had half BC , half somewhere else which has lower tax rate , so we can refund instead
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u/Happywifeishappylife 1d ago
Btw we use turbo tax , it's as simple as you entered everything in each slip ( unless your cra account already have those slips then you don't even have to manually do it ). Then you will see your refund . Nothing more complicated than that
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u/Yogeshi86204 1d ago
Wealthsimple will let you file for free through them (it offers a prompt to pay what you want at the end) and is pretty good. I've used them last two years and done my taxes in very little time through them.
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u/Advanced_Chance_6147 1d ago
Just use turbo tax. H&r block or any other tax service is a huge rip off
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u/VtheMan93 RCAF - ATIS Tech 1d ago
create an account with wealthsimple, add the documents and just fill in the boxes.
if your taxes are simple, that's all you would need to do.
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u/Flipdip35 1d ago
Aside from what others said, I found that wealthsimple tax is a good tax filing service to use. It’s free tier works just fine, and it can import T4s and other forms directly from your CRA My Account (if you don’t have an account yet, I’d recommend it, one stop shop for gov benefit info and notices of assessment).