By Tommy Osborne

Tax season

Days away from deadline, 1 in 4 Canadians still haven’t filed taxes

Apr 25, 2024 | 4:55 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – The tax deadline is rapidly approaching, as it’s coming up on April 30, but despite that, 26% of Canadians still have not filed their taxes.

“Whether it’s the actual act of tax filing, the looming tax deadline, the weight of the incomplete task, the fear of making a mistake, or the unknown balance owing, tax anxiety is a real issue impacting Canadians,” said a statement from TurboTax Canada.

“If you have a balance owing, you have to pay by April 30 or else you’re going to start to incur late filing penalties and interest,” added Stefanie Ricchio, CPA/CTA and a TurboTax Canada spokesperson.

Ricchio explained tax anxiety impacts 62% of Canadians, and that number climbs to 85% for just Gen Z.

“It can be the actual physical, technical gathering of information. It can be going through the software yourself and getting it done. Or it can just be in general: ‘what if I have a tax balance owing,’ and that for a lot of people in itself is really, a fear, a concern,” Ricchio said.

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“If you have a balance owing, you have to pay by April 30 or else you’re going to start to incur late filing penalties and interest,” she added.

While tax anxiety is real and a concern, Ricchio says this is more of a mental block than an actual serious challenge, as taxes can be quite easy to file if you use programs like Turbo Tax! Even though it seems like there is a ton you have to keep track of, like paperwork, returns, deductions, and more, TurboTax and similar programs break it down in simple, easy to understand ways.

“If you utilize the easy step interview process, it’s questions that anybody can answer, so simple and straightforward, your personal life situation, your working situation, and then, of course, everything that relates to the possible deductions. I haven’t yet seen a situation where the average simple Canadian wouldn’t be able to navigate and use a system like TurboTax to be able to answer those questions and make it through. I think it’s really just a mental hurdle, which when we think about the tax anxiety, is just something that we assume is probably a little bit greater than it is,” said Ricchio.

If you’re still worried about taxes, TurboTax and similar programs also have auto-fill options, and on top of that there are also tax experts ready to help at a moment’s notice.

Ricchio added TurboTax also made a short film about tax anxiety, which you can find here.

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