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We had the completely free "click here for a default tax return" situation here in Canada, at least in Ontario. As of last year (in my case) finally the tax au

We had the completely free "click here for a default tax return" situation here in Canada, at least in Ontario. As of last year (in my case) finally the tax authority had all the information slips you need to file already in their database. The freely usable tax software (Studio Tax) was able to download and autofill them to generate a valid (as far as the government knows) tax return that could then be e-filed. The only thing that changed was that the donation-based model of Studio Tax wasn't enough, so now you have to pay CAD $15 per installation (not per return) in order to actually file - but you can still try it out and see what your refund will be before you pay. It would still be better if the government had all this on a website, but $15 per household is not the end of the world and won't ever fund consumer hostile political lobbying.

pesfandiar 5y ago
You still need to do the cost basis calculation yourself, because a single financial institution can't calculate that for you (you may have the same securities with another institution).
- alkonaut 5y ago
  A different institution from what? If all banks, employers and other institutions are required to send the info to the tax authority, the only "other" things you need to fill in is basically income made abroad. But most people obviously don't have foreign income or assets, so a tax calculation should be 100% correct and simply a matter of accepting? The Tax authority should also have a very good guess of all possible deductions/credits, so that can be filled automatically too.
MisterSandman 5y ago
Canada also has SimpleTax which is enough for the majority of young and poor Canadians filing taxes and is completely free (donation-based). Literally took me 30-45 minutes and I did most of it on my phone. I'm not sure if it's enough for people with homes/children/foreign income, but I do know you can make it work. I was a bit sad that they were bought out by Wealthsimple, but Wealthsimple has been a largely ethical and transparent company with all the services they provide, be it their investing platform during the GME debacle or their SimpleTax buyout. Hopefully it stays that way.

pesfandiar 5y ago

You still need to do the cost basis calculation yourself, because a single financial institution can't calculate that for you (you may have the same securities with another institution).

alkonaut 5y ago
A different institution from what? If all banks, employers and other institutions are required to send the info to the tax authority, the only "other" things you need to fill in is basically income made abroad. But most people obviously don't have foreign income or assets, so a tax calculation should be 100% correct and simply a matter of accepting? The Tax authority should also have a very good guess of all possible deductions/credits, so that can be filled automatically too.

MisterSandman 5y ago

Canada also has SimpleTax which is enough for the majority of young and poor Canadians filing taxes and is completely free (donation-based). Literally took me 30-45 minutes and I did most of it on my phone. I'm not sure if it's enough for people with homes/children/foreign income, but I do know you can make it work. I was a bit sad that they were bought out by Wealthsimple, but Wealthsimple has been a largely ethical and transparent company with all the services they provide, be it their investing platform during the GME debacle or their SimpleTax buyout. Hopefully it stays that way.