Tip #4 Filing Medical expenses

4. Inefficient filing of medical expense credits. Many taxpayers claim only personal medical expenses on their tax return, rather than combining such expenses as part of a family unit to take advantage of a threshold which is the lesser of $1,728 or 3 per cent of that individual’s net income for the year. “If a husband and wife were to claim medical expenses separately, there’s a very good chance they wouldn’t be able to claim any [credit] at all because it’s based on that 3-per-cent threshold,” Mr. McCormack says.

Tip #3 Donation credit

3. Inefficient filing of donation credits between spouses. Spouses should combine donation credits to get the most bang for their charity buck. That is significant because the federal non-refundable tax credit rises from 16 per cent to the top tax threshold of 29 per cent when donations exceed $200.