Getting Organized for Tax Time

I scheduled this newsletter in advance so I could spend all of January 1st doing one of my most favourite things: calculating our family’s financial picture and comparing it to previous years, completing my tax file so I’m ready for the 2025 season to open, and starting my 2026 tax file. 

Don’t cry for me, I live for this kind of stuff. I told you, I’m a very special nerd. 

Other than my…shall we say…unique enjoyment of spreadsheets and filing systems, what makes this annual task bearable is the fact that I start preparing for it a year in advance. 

Every year, I create two new folders: one digital and one tangible. Both are called Tax Year (current), and both are the place I throw anything that’s relevant to next year’s tax filing task as soon as I get it. That last part is the key, I’ve found. 

Why? Because I know me. If I don’t have a place prepared in advance, I’ll put the prescription receipt or the mileage log somewhere I’m positive I’ll remember. And then, as sure as the sun comes up in the morning, I’ll promptly forget about it. 

The next thing I do is start a checklist for the year. It includes everything I have to remember before I hit that EFile button on my tax return, and contains (in no particular order) 

  • What was my total income for the year from every source? 

  • What were my total deductible expenses for the year? 

  • What was my mileage, and how much of it was for personal vs. business vs. medical travel? 

  • How much did we spend on out of pocket medical expenses? 

  • How much interest did I pay on my investment loan?

  • What documents have I already collected, and what am I waiting to receive? 

    • My kids’ T4s

    • My own T5

    • My RRSP contribution slips

    • The printed prescription summary from our pharmacist

    • Our charitable donation recipes

    • The mortgage statement

    • The property tax statement

This checklist is typically a dumping ground for thoughts I don’t want to forget, calculations to see how much of an RRSP contribution I might want to make, and what the resulting amounts of Canada Child Benefit might be. It’s where I write notes to myself like “don’t forget to call the pharmacy!” and “you don’t have Max’s T4 yet”.

The folders and checklist are so I can get the important information out of my brain, off my kitchen counter, and away from my inbox and safely tuck them away until it’s time to make use of them. When I’m sitting down to fill in all those lovely boxes in UFile, I have everything in front of me. 

I know no one else is quite as excited about tax time as I am (and yes, I am hosting at least two tax prep parties with friends this year), but I hope this helps you give your future self the gift of a slightly less bad (or maybe even a good?) tax filing season. 

(And, if you still don’t have a total grasp of what this whole income tax thing is all about, I recorded a short and sweet episode of Ready…Set…Money about income tax basics you might want to check out.)

Front Page, Income TaxSandi Martin