What is Tax Chopper

Tax Chopper is an online personal income tax return preparation program for Canadian taxpayers. It is NETFILE-certified, which means users can submit their tax returns directly to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) from the program.

Tax Chopper is designed to provide Canadians with a convenient, do-it-yourself way to complete and file personal income tax returns. This SaaS also supports all self-employment business reporting, including rental, commission, fishing and farming income.

Tax Chopper allows users to prepare tax returns from the year 2002 onward, although any returns for years up to 2012 must be printed and mailed due to time limits imposed by the CRA NETFILE system.

Note that Tax Chopper does not allow users to file provincial returns in Quebec.

Prior to 2009, Tax Chopper was known as CuteTax Online.

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How Does Tax Chopper Work?

To use Tax Chopper, users need to first verify their eligibility to file their returns through NETFILE. Most Canadians and residents are eligible, and exclusions largely impact those who have emigrated within the current tax year or who don't have a Social Insurance Number.

Tax Chopper is supported on most digital devices and desktop operating systems, including Windows, Linux, Mac OS and Chrome. A number of mobile operating systems are supported as well, iOS, Blackberry, Android and Windows, allowing users to complete their tax return on a tablet or smartphone.

Users simply complete the information on Tax Chopper's forms, which automatically complete all the required information. Once users create a Tax Chopper account, they can save their returns and access the information at any time. This means users don't have to complete their return in one session, and they can access their previous returns processed on the Tax Chopper system.

To file a return, users simply complete their return, and submit their payment to Tax Chopper.

CRA 2D Barcode Authorized for Paper Returns

This SaaS company also receives the CRA's yearly 2D Barcode authorization, which means users who prefer to file their tax returns on paper can do so. Tax Chopper users can simply activate the 2D barcode option before printing their return, which allows CRA to simply scan the barcode rather than manually process the return. This results in a much quicker processing time than occurs with traditional paper tax returns.

Fees for Tax Chopper in Canada

Tax Chopper prices start at $9.95 for one personal tax return. Two returns cost $15.98, three to five returns cost $19.98, while six to 15 returns purchased on the same account cost $25.98. All prices are plus GST/HST. Note that prices are on a per-year basis, and to qualify for the discounted package prices, all returns must be prepared for one tax year on the same account.

Tax Chopper is free the following individuals:

• Full-time students enrolled in school for at least six months in the tax filing year

• Newcomers to Canada, for the year in which they arrive in Canada

• People who were either single, divorced, separated or widowed by the end as of the end of the year, so long as the total income reported on line 150 of the tax return totals no more than $25,000

• Individuals who were either legally married or living common-law during the tax year who had a combined income for both spouses reported on line 150 of $32,000 or less

Tax Chopper Alternatives

Tax Chopper is one of dozens of CRA NETFILE-approved online tax preparation programs. Consumers who are considering using Tax Chopper may also want to look at Simple Tax, a free online option for Canadian taxpayers who want to prepare their own personal tax returns.

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