Tax personality quiz – Right-on-Timers

“Right-on-Timers” are Canadians who take a somewhat laidback approach to filing their tax returns. It's simply part of adulting, a spring ritual you dutifully check off your to-do list each year. Your approach puts you solidly in the middle of the pack: you're nowhere near as keen as the “Eager Beavers” out there—those who submit their returns the moment the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) opens NETFILE, its online tax-filing platform, in late February. You're no late-filing “Deadline Dodger,” either. But sometimes, even if you started preparing your return weeks or months in advance, you lose momentum along the way. You still get the job done before the deadline (April 30 for most Canadians), but not as early and stress-free as you'd hoped.

There are many possible reasons for this. Ironically, because you start tax preparation early, you may feel less time pressure to complete the task. So, you work slowly, chipping away at it bit by bit, and may end up rushing at the end. Or perhaps you underestimate how long the task will take, even if you've done it many times before—a classic human foible known as “planning fallacy.”

If that sounds familiar, you may have room for improvement in the upcoming tax season. You're already consistently filing on time (high five!), but starting tax prep sooner gives you more time to:

• Fill out your tax return accurately
• Find all of the tax credits and deductions you're eligible for
• Track down missing tax slips and expense receipts
• Co-ordinate tax filing with your spouse or common-law partner and/or kids, if applicable
• Double-check your work
• Get expert help, if needed

With just a few tweaks, you can get organized, stay motivated, and perhaps put hundreds or even thousands of dollars back in your pocket. Plus, if you're getting a tax refund, it might arrive sooner.

Tips for filing taxes early

Why do many taxpayers wait until mid- or late April to sit down and do their taxes? Humans are wired to avoid tasks we don't want to do—including things we perceive as difficult or tedious. That makes it hard to motivate ourselves. Instead, we procrastinate, temporarily avoiding the negative emotions we feel about the job at hand.

“When facing a task, we intend to do but do not want to, we feel a number of possible negative emotions. We may feel frustrated, angry, bored, resentful, depressed, anxious, or guilty,” Timothy A. Pychyl, a procrastination expert and former Carleton University psychology professor, explains in his book Solving the Procrastination Puzzle.

Pychyl refers to procrastination as “needless task delay.” Everyone does it from time to time, he notes, but for some it's become a habit, and that can have consequences. Those who procrastinate excessively report lower achievement overall, more negative feelings, and more health problems.

We know that putting off important tasks doesn't serve us well, yet we often talk ourselves into it. The exact reasons likely vary by the individual, but as humans we have certain tendencies, such as underestimating how much time we need to complete a task, placing greater importance on short-term rewards than long-term ones, and thinking irrationally about a task. Being aware of these tendencies and biases can help us begin to change our behaviour and enjoy greater peace of mind.

Setting yourself up for success

You likely already know the benefits of filing your tax return, including potential tax refunds, avoiding late-filing penalties for taxes owed, and access to several types of government benefits. Make the next tax season the one where you optimize tax filing by building in extra time and dialling down the stress. Here are some ways to make that happen.

• Get organized. Set up a system for managing tax slips and receipts (RRSP contributions, donations, medical expenses, etc.). This could be a combination of physical and digital folders, with new ones for each tax year.
• Schedule it. Enter the tax-filing deadline in your calendar, and block off some time in March or April after all of your expected tax slips have arrived.
• Save time with digital tools. Transferring information and tax slips from your CRA account into your tax return is quick and easy with TurboTax's Auto-fill My Return feature. You can also estimate how much you'll get back (or how much you'll owe) with TurboTax's Income Tax Calculator.
• Take your time. Once you've filled out your return, go back and check every detail—it's common to make a typo or enter the wrong number, for example.
• Double-check for credits and deductions. You can refer to the CRA's list of tax deductions and credits, or you can have TurboTax search all 400-plus of them for you.

Get it done right—and early

With just a few adjustments, you can take your tax filing from adequate to advantageous—and you'll completely avoid the stress and time crunch of filing close to the deadline. TurboTax can help you get your taxes done right and on time. You can do them yourself, get expert help, or have us do it all for you.

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