Times have changed.
Stern Cohen is a paperless office and we’re going for a paperless tax season process, too!
This page shows you how to get your tax documents and slips to us digitally as PDF documents.
Why? Here are a few of the benefits:
So here are some easy step by step instructions to help us help you!
Complete our Online Tax Checklist: Online Tax Checklist
It will only take a few minutes! After you hit submit, you’ll receive a helpful PDF listing of the slips and supporting documentation required.
If you can use your camera phone, you can take a picture of your document and save it as a PDF with the help of a free app. Note: we only accept PDF format, not picture file formats like JPEG.
In February 2023, we tested some leading (and free) scanning apps. Here are our picks below. (Read the original article here.)
It’s free and it automatically stores every scan you capture on Adobe Document Cloud, which means your scans are accessible from any phone, tablet, or computer. You can also decide the local location for the file: on your phone, on Google Drive or even Microsoft OneDrive. Save your tax documents as PDF’s to one location/folder.
Super easy. Open the Google Drive App. Tap the + sign. Tap scan, then save as a PDF to your Google Drive. Here’s a two minute YouTube video on how to do this.
We also tested Microsoft Lens. It’s free and it’s easy to use but it saves your picture as a PDF to your image gallery OR Microsoft OneDrive only.
We have tested and recommend Box. Box is also available as a mobile phone app and it makes it easy to take and save/send PDF’s of your documents and slips.
Box has a free individual plan with up to 10 GB of storage (and a 250 MB file upload limit). It offers secure file sharing to your account. You can simply drag your files there like you would with File Explorer, OneDrive or DropBox. OR you can use their mobile phone app to create a PDF and upload to your Box account.
Apple Notes (not tested) is free and highly recommended!
It’s easy! Creating a zip folder saves time.
Another video: https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Zip-File
TIP: Do you have multiple expenses from ONE service provider? SAVE TIME by asking them for a “Statement of Account” for 2021. For example, if you frequently purchase medicine at Shoppers Drug Mart you might have 30 receipts in a year. A “Statement of Account” from Shoppers (or from any of your frequent service providers) will save you (and us) time documenting your expenses. With a Statement of Account, you can provide the annual/total amount (instead of listing each charge). Keep the separate receipts as backup.
BONUS: If the CRA questions any of your personal medical expenses, the Statement of Account is a solid supporting document. The CRA tends to decline receipts only showing the owing amount, causing time consuming back and forth communications.
If you don’t have a statement of account, please provide the information below (in Excel if possible):
Got ?’s: To find out if you can claim a medical expense, click here to use the CRA’s handy medical expense lookup.
Set Up Your CRA My Account – To view your tax and benefit information, and update your Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) information ahead of time.
Trove from Prosper Canada:
The worksheets and tips on the Trove website will help you learn more about tax filing, how to read your notice of assessment, and more information about benefits that may be relevant for your situation.