Tracking for Taxes

[torontokids]

What sorts of things do I need to track for taxes? Just attendance and who pays me what when?

[Monday 2 Friday Mama]

My receipts for the parents have carbon copies so it's pretty easy to keep track of who paid what over the course of a year. There's also a section on it where I write down "Childcare provided for Baby X, from March 11 2013 through to March 15 2013" - I find it really helps keeps things clear. There are items that you can claim 100% of the cost - things like your daycare food, craft supplies and toys - keep the receipts for those. I also find that tallying up my expenses on a weekly basis helps keep me on track with my spending. Every week I sit down and tally up how much I have spent on food/craft supplies/toys - it's very easy for me to overspend if I don't do this ! Then there are all the other things that you can claim a percentage of your total annual bill: Hydro, Water/Sewar, Enbridge, your hot water tank rental fee. You'll have to check the CRA website for the exact amount that you can claim, but I think it's approximately 10-15%. Again - keep your receipts from the year in case you need to back up your numbers - but claim these expenses ! All the little deductions add up ! You can also claim (again a percentage of) your home insurance, any professional membership dues that you pay, and any fee's that you paid to attend professional workshops. i.e. First Aid training etc. I know some people also claim a portion of their home expenses (i.e. rent/mortgage) I personally don't do this - I have some concerns about how doing this might affect any capital gains in my home - but I know many people do. Good luck with taxes - I personally try really hard to keep every nickel that I possibly can - I hate sending money to CRA for programs that I will likely never see any benefits from.

[Monday 2 Friday Mama]

oh - you can also claim a percentage of equipment that you buy for your daycare. i.e. shelving units to store toys, toddler tables for the kids to colour at, strollers and playpens, etc.

[NewCare4U]

Do you have an excel template as well or just the carbon copies?

[playfelt]

I just do a chart per child that I made in Word with four columns - dates (goes by week such as Mar 18-22, space for comments ie missed days, overtime, amount paid, receipt number (I give weekly receipts). It takes three pages per year per child.

[playfelt]

NewCare4U check out the Childcare Providers Resource Network here in Ottawa www.ccprn.com as they have some info on record keeping and setting up for daycare. They also have binders in the office that has sample forms that people have put in over the years or they used to have.

[Monday 2 Friday Mama]

I'm super old school - I just have the carbon copies and I add them all up to determine my yearly gross income. Same with my receipts for food/toys/craft supplies - it's just me and a calculator. I do use Netfile for my taxes so I'm not totally archaic - you just punch your numbers into the spreadsheets and CRA spits out what amount you owe. =)

[playfelt]

I'm hearing about people paying to file online. What is the point of that compared to the cost of two stamps to mail it in. Since we don't get a refund anyways why pay to pay the government.