Today we're going to talk about a little known thing that can help any Canadian to pay less overall taxes; the T2200!
https://static.wixstatic.com/media/db413d_05a233012bfa4d088252d79f53807d26mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_624,h_351,al_c,lg_1,q_80/db413d_05a233012bfa4d088252d79f53807d26mv2.jpg
Well, not quite this guy....although I'm sure he'd have a similar attitude towards governments stealing his money unnecessarily.
We're talking about this:
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/t2200/t2200-15e.pdf
Does your employer call you at home? What about email you? If this is how you find out your hours, then guess what, you can write off a portion of that service you're required to have in order to be employed!
Lets take a look at the form and go through it piece by piece.
This part is simple, it's your basic personal information. Where you work, what year it is (you will have to do one of these forms every year), your name and job title.
This is where things start getting tricky...
Question 1: Yes....if it didn't, we wouldn't be filling out this form!
Question 2: This one is pretty straight forward. Do you have to go anywhere outside a single location that your employer doesn't cover transportation for? If yes, choose yes and list where.
Question 3: This asks if you travel outside your city for work. If you do, select yes.
Question 4: Very straight forward, and for most people it will be Jan 1 to Dec 31st, unless you've started the job during the calendar year, or do seasonal or temp work.
Question 5: Does your work pay for your car and it's related expenses? If so, list what's paid for by your employer.
Question 6: You're probably going to pick no for this, unless your employer does reimburse some of your expenses. If they do, list what they pay for.
Question 7: This is the important one that you need to say yes to, and then list the expenses you have to pay for out of your pocket; ie. phone, internet, home office, uniform, etc
Question 8: Do you get paid via commissions? If yes, how much did you make and is it included on your T4 slip?
Question 9: You're likely going to say yes for a couple of these (ie. home office, supplies, cell phone), and no to 'Did you or will you reimburse this employee for any of these expenses' unless your employer is actually going to pay those things for you.
Question 10: You can probably say yes to this if you do any work from home, or if your employer contacts you at home for anything work related. Choose a very small percentage if you only get your schedule at home, but if you're answering emails and whatnot, claiming 25% of your rent or mortgage payment (and other home related expenses- like utilities!) isn't unreasonable.
Question 11: If you need to provide your own tools for your job, provide a list with pricing and have your employer agree to it. You can then write off the cost of all your tools. Computers and other office related things count as a tool to do your job as well.
Question 12: Only applies to mechanics and has a lot to do with providing your own tools.
Question 13: Only applies to people in forestry.
Have your employer sign the form with their contact info at the bottom.
It costs a company absolutely nothing to sign this for you (and doesn't affect them in any way) and can save you personally a TON of taxes if you have a lot of expenses. You only have to provide a copy of this form in the event you get audited, which is unlikely to happen as long as you're making reasonable deductions. Most people have a reasonable amount of things they can legitimately write off for work purposes, but don't due to lack of knowledge about being able to do so.
