Tax Return as a newcomer in need of advice

[JasonGraham]

Hello,

I arrived in Canada as a PR in January 23, 2024 and I heard that people must file their tax return by end of April. I heard in a YouTube video that if someone didn't live in Canada the previous year and landed in January this year, they don't have to file their income tax. Is that correct? I was also told by a colleague that I still have to create a CRA account and file "0".

These questions may sound dumb for some of you but I come from a country where I never had to file (or think about) taxes at ALL. This is very new and confusing to me. I also wonder If I need to keep all of my receipts of purchases (food, items, furniture, bills, etc.) as I noticed there are taxes everywhere.

Thanks for your help! please feel free to share with me any article or videos that could be helpful (beginner friendly)

[MikeBrooklyn]

No, you do not need to apply for previous year before you arrived.

I'd suggest either getting a physical tax return and guide and going through it and pretending you arrived january of last year. Fill it out, and see how complex.

Answer is 'not very complex' if you are salaried (have a job with an organisation in Canada). THere are, however, some things you will have to do as a new immigrant, esp if you have lots of assets / real estate abroad (you'll declare values which will serve to calculate taxes in future when you dispose of them).

You do not need to retain MOST types of expenses and receipts if you don't have your own business (if you do - things will get a lot more complicated, hire a tax accountant). You will get tax docs from your banks in Canada whwere you get income, and your job (govt will get copies separately). You may need to track some other things depending on province and whatnot, and expenses possibly for some things like education and charitable donations.

[Kalisspera]

I used www.install-turbo-tax.com as a newcomer last year and found it pretty straightforward. It asked simple questions about my residency, income from outside Canada, and tuition stuff. It even helped with the deductions I didn’t know I qualified for. I didn’t have much Canadian income that year, but it still let me file for the GST/HST credit, which came in handy.