My Essential Tax Preparation Checklist

Tax season may not be your favourite time of year (and if it is, you need to get out more), but everyone has to do their taxes, so why not make the best of it? That’s why I’ve created this free tax preparation checklist to make things way easier on you.

What Is a Tax Preparation Checklist?

My tax preparation checklist breaks down exactly what documents you need to get your taxes done (in Canada only, sorry my non-Canuck friends!), so you can worry less about filing your taxes and think more about what you want to do with your tax return. And no, I don’t mean what kind of trip you’re going to plan with your return. For the love of the tax gods, please save it, invest it or use it to pay down your debt! Please!

Now, preparing the right documents may be something you think your tax professional will do for you, but guess what, it’s not. They’ll help you input all the data and file your taxes to the government, but it’s on you to make sure you have all the right documents. And if you don’t, it could mean you’ll be missing out on some helpful tax credits and deductions. Which in turn could mean you’ll end up owing money to the government instead of collecting a hefty tax return.

The most annoying part of doing your taxes is getting all of your paperwork together, but with my tax preparation checklist, you’ll now have a complete list of everything you need. You can even print it and check it off as you go so whatever you’re preference, you’re good to go!

How It’s Helped Me & My Self-Employed Husband

I’m telling you, this checklist has been a real stress-saver for my husband and me. My taxes have always been more straightforward than my husband’s since I work full-time at a salaried job. My husband on the other hand has been a freelancer for almost 9 years now and it can get complicated.

Since keeping receipts, tracking business expenses, and figuring out what tax credits he can take advantage of is crucial for him come tax time, this checklist has really helped him keep organized and cut down the time it takes him to get everything sorted.