Personal Finance

Filing taxes with my wife makes my refund go from $1700 to $23?

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  • Mar 7th, 2011 11:46 pm
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Deal Addict
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Oct 20, 2008
1263 posts
267 upvotes
Coquitlam, BC

Filing taxes with my wife makes my refund go from $1700 to $23?

I am using StudioTax to do our returns (I've used it the last 4 years).

When I complete all my info (T4, RRSP contributions, $110 in donations), it shows I am getting back $1,775. Awesome. Now, when I go and complete all my wifes info, it shows I am only getting back $23.

I'm not too familiar with how taxes work, but can anyone shed some light on why this may be happening?

My info
$63,462
$11,838 income tax deduced
$2,163 - CPP
$747 - EI
$110 in donations
$1,130 into RRSPs
$17,958 - 2010 RRSP deduction limit

Wife
$43,555
$6,614 income tax deducted
$1,989 - CPP
$747 - EI
$1,130 into RRSPs
$13,905 - 2010 RRSP deduction limit
14 replies
Deal Addict
Dec 25, 2005
1451 posts
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Without actually running any numbers, perhaps when you originally did your return it was giving you the spousal tax credit (assuming your wife had negligible income), and then when you actually entered in her income, it realized that she herself would need to use her personal credit.
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Sep 23, 2009
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Brampton
That's what I was going to suggest too. Fortunately my wife was in school last year. =)
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Deal Addict
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Oct 20, 2008
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Coquitlam, BC
That explains it!

Another time the wife sucks money outta my pocket...

Thanks everyone.
Deal Fanatic
Jul 1, 2007
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Suggestion: don't claim the donations. Wait until you have a larger number (over $200) of donations accumulated and then declare them all at once. Bigger tax credit.
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Deal Addict
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Oct 20, 2008
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Coquitlam, BC
Thalo wrote: Suggestion: don't claim the donations. Wait until you have a larger number (over $200) of donations accumulated and then declare them all at once. Bigger tax credit.
I knew $200 was the mark to get to, but how many years can I carry them forward? I thought it was only 1 or 2?
Deal Addict
Jan 19, 2011
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5 years to accumulate charitable donations. I don't think it makes any sense to claim them any faster than that. I claimed my wifes 2004, 2009, and will wait til 2014...
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Deal Fanatic
Feb 1, 2006
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Muskoka
DarkCanuck wrote: That explains it!

Another time the wife sucks money outta my pocket...

Thanks everyone.

Without the wife, your return would have been $23. The problem was that you claimed yourself as married, but her with no income, so tax software transferred to you her basic credit. Once you entered her income, it moved the credit rightfully back to her.
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Apr 10, 2010
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That's an interesting topic. Another good lesson learned. Good for future preparation.
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Aug 19, 2005
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Toronto
Thanks for the tip on donations. Didn't know that.
Deal Addict
Jan 19, 2011
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I always have empty file folders in front of my current tax years, now labelled 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and every 'fifth year' (2014 in my case) folder has a post it note labelled 'Donations'
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Sr. Member
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Jun 29, 2008
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glad that my wife makes no money, has tuitions to pay, and some unclaimed of textbook fees from the federal and provincial governments. all adds up to a good credit to my tax return. transferred the the textbook and tuition fees in 2009 and will be doing the same for 2010. max of 5k transfer on my part.
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Feb 19, 2010
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hola2005 wrote: glad that my wife makes no money, has tuitions to pay, and some unclaimed of textbook fees from the federal and provincial governments. all adds up to a good credit to my tax return. transferred the the textbook and tuition fees in 2009 and will be doing the same for 2010. max of 5k transfer on my part.

Yeah, you're right. Having those tax credits is WAY better than your wife having income. :facepalm:
Deal Addict
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Aug 12, 2006
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Conquistador wrote: Yeah, you're right. Having those tax credits is WAY better than you're wife having income. :facepalm:

:lol: :facepalm:
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