April is the time to file the tax return.  This year’s tax return is a little difference than last year’s.  My status in the file has changed from single to married.  In the point of view of Revenue Canada, nothing much is changed.  We still have to file two seperate tax return instead of a common couple return.  The only benefits is I can transfer some unused tax credit from Pat under my return.  I have a higher marginal tax rate so it is better to claim the credit under my name so we can get more refund.

Support in Quick Tax for marriage couple is pretty good.  I can file two return under the same file and the software will take care of copying the required information between the two sets of forms.  It also has some tips on how to optimize the refund between the couple.  It is almost perfect except it is missing one feature.  I can’t merge the data from last year’s tax return for both of us.  I can only transfer last year’s data from one file and have to mannually enter the data for the other one.

Last year, my company changed the medical insurance coverage from 100% to 80%.  I didn’t realize I can claim tax credit for the remaining 20%, so I didn’t keep the recipts.  Damn… I could have get back ten or twenty bucks more from the government.  Next year, I have to remind myself to file all my dental and drug recipts.