Earn Deputy TaxDetective® status

Here's how you can learn about tax, it's easy, fun and free!

Sample tax returns. TurboTax® Online can be accessed for free, anonymously, by students. Students can use it in the computer lab at school, save their work to finish it at home or in the library. Students can use a fake SIN#. To encourage students to learn more about tax by using the more complex modules, note that it isn't necessary to pay until (or if) you choose to file the return, which of course, you won't be doing with a fake SIN#, so when it asks you if you'll be prepared to pay, just say yes, because you'll never complete the sale with a fake SIN #.
Case studies. Stories are a wonderful way to learn anything. Tax is no different. To see what happens 'if'' and how the tax payable or refundable changes as a result, use the Student Workbook I've created for high school students. It's possible to create up to 20 free samples allowable when using TurboTax Online for free. There are five case studies to get you started.
Real life tax stories. CANLII is an organization that has made it their mission to make those stories (or call them judgements if you must) available at www.canlii.org

All you need is a computer with an internet connection and some imagination or a story to work on.

Save your work, finish it later.

Go straight to the WorkBook for the Case Studies to get started by clicking this link

or Click on the purple tab found on the left side of this website "TurboTax Online WorkBook"

Why would teachers want to teach tax?

Tax and taxation are found in the BC curriculum, in 7 places in the IRP. What is covered is really, really basic included in Math 10 and 11 Applications, Business Education 11 and 12, Accounting courses, Civic Studies 11, and Math Essentials 10 to 12. Topics include basic payroll, preparing a basic T4, and a basic T1 like the first case study for a student who works at McDonalds, found in my new Student WorkBook.

Is that enough to prepare students for life? No, it's not.

Do you see any tax in this BC Ministry of Education catalogue of learning resources? Apparently the BC Securities Commission provides Planning 10 teachers with some basic information, enough to satisfy their most basic requirements, but they don't actually do a tax return online like I'm showing you how to do.

Are parents responsible for tax education? It seems that's the case.

School is responsible for sex education, but not tax education?

I'm having difficulty with this one...and you probably are too.

I believe that learning about taxation is an essential life skill, not something to just mention in passing as an aside. Some teachers told me they only include the tax module if there's time left at the end of the year because there just isn't any priority placed on learning about tax.

Not only is tax a skill, we're all required by law to self-assess tax, and CRA has the attitude that they have absolutely no responsibility to 'mother' us when it comes to tax education, even on complex topics like how much and when to pay instalments when you start a self-employed business.

Far too often not knowing enough about tax catching someone just starting out in business so far behind, it takes them the rest of their life to catch up.

CRA has made it pretty clear, we're on our own. It's taxpayer beware. We need to know about tax and how it works the minute we start earning income and that's enough reason to include more taxation in the BC (and every province/territory) Education and at the high school curriculum level.

The interesting thing about tax is that it can satisfy curiosity about how other people earn their income.

Knowing about tax might lead students consider a broader selection of life choices. If for example, a student knew how much income they could expect from various occupations, and how much after tax income would result, students might make very different life choices.

That's where these Case Studies come in really handy. I'm just starting to create them, and already have ideas for more.

Students should learn how taxation relates to income, and what's deductible, not just for employees who are provided with a T4, but for real life situations, for all those transitions where tax plays a huge role in our lives.

Transitions like when we go to college/university, have a child, get married, buy a house, save for retirement, invest in stocks and bonds, become landlords or self-employed, entrepreneurs, seniors, persons with medical expenses and infirmity or disability and even when we die.

It's no wonder many of my clients had no clue they need to file estate returns for a parent or that on death, all assets are deemed to be disposed of at fair market value and tax must be paid.

How did we learn about tax?

Most taxpayers learn about tax after high school, either through the school of hard knocks, or from a college course on personal tax, 10 lessons with about fifteen minutes on tax credits. How many of us found a tax return in the corner on the floor in a post office and picked it up? Now that's just sad.

The advanced course about corporations, tax free rollovers, shareholder loans and benefits, partnerships, trusts and death, 10 more lessons.

After that, you're an expert (ha)! Really? It takes me four hours just to explain personal tax credits. Another four hours to explain self-employment. Those introductory courses cover those topics in about 10 minutes each.

CRA did a survey to learn about young adults and their knowledge about tax: CRA: YA and taxes (prepare to be depressed).

After reading that survey, I decided to create a curriculum about learning about tax.

My criteria was that it had to be hands on, and based on real life stories; and it had to be fun.

To my surprise, my husband, who teaches high school math in Vancouver informed me he is responsible to teach tax as a part of the math curriculum. There's a scary thought, someone who has never done his own return in the 27 years we've been married teaches the only tax those kids will learn about.

What's included in his curriculum is basic.

There's a module on preparing a paycheque, a T4Slip and a T1 personal tax return. If you're lucky, it will fill a 90 minute lesson, if other curriculum doesn't take priority.

I offered to take his Math 11 Essentials class through an online discovery in a computer lab with Intuit's TurboTax® and UFile® software both free and online.

Word spread. Other students, Grade 12's and staff from the admin office appeared in the doorway, asking to join. Soon every computer in the lab was in use.

It turned out tax was a hot topic for kids who work after school and tax was being taken off their paycheques. We were able to help by introducing TD1's and how to complete a TD1 so the students could keep their money. My tax class was a huge hit! They kept asking when was I coming back because they felt they could learn more. Sadly, there wasn't time.

Here's what happened in the 90 minute lab

Registering each student for access took about 10 minutes. Each student registers, which requires access to an email address (they can all use the same one), sets up their unique User ID and password, chooses and answers a skill testing question.

Then they set up their fake tax return with a fake SIN#.

You can use the basic exercise from the textbook T4 if you want. After that, it was an easy step to playing 'what-if'. Imagination took over as they made up stories to create tax returns.

The 90 minute class was over almost before it started.

What happened next?

Late spring, an invitation in my husband's mail box, October PD day for Business Education teachers in BC, financial literacy theme. Mention of a tax speaker on TurboTax, but no speaker assigned. I contacted the person in charge, the Business Ed Dept head at my high school in Vancouver. What fun!

To present this idea of how to teach tax, my husband suggested I create a Student WorkBook, some case studies, and videos to walk students and their teachers through the process, step by step, to introduce this idea to teachers. He said that's what he would want to see, the teacher's who attended loved the idea. Several immediately purchased a subscription.

But they only wanted one or two case studies, and more about history of tax. That's when I went back to the IRP's to discover why. Only 7 learning outcomes, relating to tax, and that included something on consumer problems about wages, property taxation, GST, Excise tax, municipal taxes, then the bare basics about payroll, T4's and a simple single, employed, no dependant tax return. Oh yes, key provisions of Canadian social safety net, and impact on society, you guessed it, Employment Insurance.

The first Student WorkBook in the TaxDetective Series has five Introductory Case Studies:

Student, works at MacDonalds as a cashier
Student, paper route, mom drives on rainy mornings, sister helps out
Student, works as server in pizza parlor, tips, no tax taken at source
Student: away at University, moves home for summer job, moves back to go to school
Young Adult: first full time job

The Student WorkBook also includes:

An introductory 11 minute video explaining how to register for TurboTax, with step by step instructions for the teacher to get the students registered when they don't have an email address, or teacher's may want to protect the student's privacy by providing an email address, and a fake SIN # for them to use.

A video of each case study (I've done two so far, the rest are on my ToDo list..) walk the teacher and the students through the case study. Teachers could show the videos or allow the students to work independently. The videos are accessible to the students any time to play again.

Links are provided in the WorkBook via access to this website to useful resources found on government websites like the Canada Revenue Agency website, the Justice Minister's website, and the Finance Minister's website.

Questions & Answers to ensure the student is accessing the resources.

Can students work on their tax case studies independently?

Yes. And they will probably have to rely on parents to guide them, because the BC Education curriculum only covers the first case, so teachers may only have time for one or maybe two cases.

Students will be able to access the videos to learn about tax and access TurboTax software at their school computer lab or on their library or home computer. Students can create up to 20 sample returns under one fake name. If they wanted to, they could create a second fake name and prepare another 20 sample returns.

Here are examples of case studies you'll find in future editions of the TaxDetective Series:

Teacher, single parent with child & mother lives with them
Teacher, married with spouse/partner in University, student loans
Inventor earns a million dollars, has open heart surgery $100,000, while away on a convention
Dad works full time, Mom runs a daycare, family has tenant in the basement suite
Senior, single, pensions & dividends, can't walk, lives in retirement home
Speech Language Pathologist, first year as sole proprietor
Drywaller
Renovator
Accountant
Bookkeeper
Lawyer
?? (send requests to )

What are some other ways to learn about preparing taxes?

Teachers can register their school at www.intuiteducation.ca.

Intuit Canada provides a class set of educational software and everything needed to set up a lab, including special installation key codes for the computer lab. This approach requires lab preparation time.

The Intuit education package utilizes older software versions. If internet connection speeds from your internet provider are slow and causing the students frustration, this may be an excellent alternative.

Note: My Student WorkBook accesses TurboTax Online instead and can be implemented with 11 minutes of preparation time. Just open up a lab and have the students sign in after watching the 11 minute video for how to do this efficiently

UFIle® also provides free student access and a sample SIN #. It's a great idea to compare and contract how the two software work to determine which suits you best.

CRA also provides programs for learning which I found frustrating to access.

CRA educator products are found at this link. Once you complete the questionaire, This page appears with the three programs

I found that it kept bumping me out and I kept having to sign back up, providing my name and the reason for attending, over and over. After about three tries, I got frustrated and several teachers have told me that this program accesses information about Ontario, and they found that extremely annoying as they felt the need to convert everything to BC, which took valuable time away from other activities. I know teachers spend many hours preparing to teach and something like this would be enough to put them off using the product.

CRA course overview for learning about taxes

Several teachers asked me for an expanded curriculum to learn about how tax works to...

1. Explore how various government Ministries interact to create and administer tax

2. Explore the Income Tax Act and Regulations

3. Review the authorization process, My Account and Represent a Client

Below is an indepth look at how tax works and where to find information on the gov't websites about creation and administration of tax law.

Access to Income Tax Act and Regulations

The Income Tax Act is found on the Minister of Justice's website.

First, review the Table of Contents to find a section, or change the address right at the end of the link, to go directly to the section you are looking for (there are 248 sections).

Here's how it works. The link to section-1 is found at the end of the link.

All that's required is to click the link, and then edit the section number, for example, edit the -1 and make it -2 or -69 or -118.2 (medical expenses)

http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/I-3.3/section-1.html

The Act comes with ancillary Regulations found here and note that it's by page, so changing the page # will move you through, as will the Table of Contents

http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/C.R.C.,_c._945/page-1.html

Page 121 is where you'll find Regulation 5700 with a listing of the medical devices and equipment referenced by S. 118.2(2)(m)

Page 122 is where you'll find Retention of Books and Records in Regulation 5800

Supreme Court in Canada Trustco case, explained that the Income Tax Act should be read in such as way as to concern ourselves with content, context and purpose. That requires knowledge about how the Act is constructed in total, how each part relates to the other and why it was set down as law in the first place. That's a tall order.

You could think of the Income Tax Act as an algebraic formula written in prose. The same formulas appear over and over again. Reading it out loud helps, and it's important to always look for the mathematical connecting words

Those little connectors, like "Or", "And", "Less" and "the Sum of" help us determine the formula to use.

Tax Research Education

The rest of this page is for teachers who want more than just an hour in the computer lab to learn how the software works and to play what-if.

What follows is my curriculum outline for learning about our taxation system and how we communicate about tax.

The following activities engage students in planning, mathematics, law and internet research while exploring taxation in Canada.

—Target age range is 16-18 (grades 10 to 12)

—These activities allow for creative exploration of government websites, and can be used individually or sequentially.

—These activities may be assessed using the provided evaluation tools. Where possible, suggestions for modifications are provided.

Learning Outcomes

Explore how Finance, Justice and Canada Revenue Agency interact
Explore the Income Tax Act and Regulations
Explore how tax law is applied to real people in Tax and Supreme Court cases
Open your own tax history using "My Account"
Learn how to research tax questions

Curriculum Connections

Planning 10
Law 11
Math 10 Essentials
Math 11 Essentials
Business Information Management 12
Entrepreneurship 12

Course Content

Finance
Parliament
Justice
FINTRAC
Courts
Canada Revenue Agency
Tax compliance software
Researching tax questions
Non compliance = convictions
Voluntary disclosures, penalties and interest, civil penalties

Activities:

How laws are made:

(Let's follow the TFSA through the process)

Finance FAQ
Finance creates amended legislation
- Notice of Ways and Means in a Press Release March 11, 2026
- Explanatory Notes in a Press Release March 14, 2026
Parliament posts Bill
TFSA included in Bill C-10 January 27, 2026
- Received First Reading in 40th Parliament 2nd Session which commenced January 26, 2009
Follow the status of Bill C-10 at Status of House Business
Open the Bill to read it under House Government Bills (list of Bills C-10)

Once the Bill is passed and the Senate approves the Bill, Justice amends Income Tax Act and adds Regulation 5000 and 5001 to describe Prohibited investments to TFSA's

Long before the Bill is passed, CRA acts like the law is already in place in order to create the forms, guides, publications, and systems to administer the TFSA as if it is law already

CRA advises Registered Plan Administrators about TFSA
CRA advises individuals about TFSA
CRA creates publication RC4466, an information sheet and advises of other publications that may have an impact (see bottom of RC4466 where IT Bulletins and Form RC240 (not yet created) are listed)

Where to find information about income tax on the CRA website:

Site Map (CRA website)
Forms and publications
Online services
Individuals:
- Child and family benefits
- Being employees
- What to do when someone has died
- How to report on a trust and what types of trusts there are
Business hires an employee
Landlord reports rental income
Investor accounts for capital gains on sale of investment
Seniors
- pension splitting rules
- CPP, OAS, GIS
Self employed persons
- Keeping records
- Records
- Business Records
- GST/HST
Persons with Disabilities
Corporations
- records employee taxable benefits
- files T2 corporate tax return
Non-Profit Organization reports
Charities Policies

Where to find information about court cases:

Law student assist taxpayer with research about a landmark Supreme Court case on how to read the Income Tax Act (Canada Trustco)
www.Canlii.org

Assessment

Knowledge / Understanding

Does student demonstrate

awareness of major concepts?
understanding of major concepts?

Thinking and Research

Does student

use major tax concepts in an insightful manner?
make links between major tax concepts that are strong and relevant?
understand how to use the CRA search engine and site map?

Communication

Can student organize and present major tax concepts effectively?

Does student use "tax language" to research queries?

Can student determine when they require more information and contact CRA help to ask for more information?

Application

Does student complete and document appropriately:

TD1 for employee with T4 income, a spouse, one child or a parent over 65 who lives with them
A T4, T4 Summary and ROE for an employee
Self-employed income schedule including asset acquisitions, vehicle and home office cost claims
Rental income schedule
Capital gains Schedule
Investment Income Schedule
Medical expense claim form
Donation tax credit claim form
Tuition and education claim and S11, BC S11 transfers to spouse, parent, grandparent
Child care expenses
Child fitness tax credit claim

Course introduction

Who plays a role in the establishment of our laws?

Politicians
Finance Department
Parliament
Senate

What are the laws?

Federal Statutes
Provincial / territorial Statutes
Municipal By-Laws

Where do we find information?

Canada, Provinces/Territories
Finance
Parliament
Justice
Statistics Canada
Industry Canada
Canada Business
FINTRAC
Proceeds of Crime, Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing Act
Canada Revenue Agency
CanLII.org

Who enforces the law?

Auditors
Officers of the Courts
Courts Administration Service
RCMP, provincial or local Police
Attorney General
Judges via the Court system
Jail, fines, penalties

Why do we need law?

Social order
Public programs
Services, infrastructure
Protection from harm

How do social policies and federal tax laws define acceptable financial behavior?

Self-assessing system in Canada
Ignorance is no defence,
Guilty until proven innocent
Expected to know and comply with law

Activities to engage in to protect ourselves from harm:

Education
Keeping records
Planning to minimize taxes

but only if our planning does not step over GAAR General Anti-Avoidance Rule (since 1995)

Section 245 of the ITA

IC 88-2 GAAR -

IC 88-2S1

G500-6-9 GAAR and GST

IT News on GAAR reviews - 2005

Decided cases to search for on www.canlii.org

Kaulius (loss transfer - SCC)
Desmarais (surplus strip)
CECO (partnership / disguised proceeds)
OGT Holdings (QCA - Quebec shuffle)
MacKay (avoidance loss transfers - FCA March 2008) leave to appeal to SCC sought, decision delayed until after Lipson
Landrus (non arms length loss realization - TCC May 2008) under appeal to FCA
Remai (charitable donation - TCC August 2008) under appeal
Lipson (attribution - SCC January 2009)

Watch for decisions on:

MacKay (SCC)
OGT Holdings (QCA)
Garron Family Trust et al (TCC)
Collins & Aikman (TCC)
Lehigh Cement (TCC)

INCOME TAX ACT AND REGULATIONS

Part 1

Division A - Liability for tax S. 2
Division B – Computation of Income S. 3-108
Division C – Computation of Taxable Income S. 110-114
Division D – Taxable income earned in Canada by Non Residents S. 115-116
Division E – Computation of tax S. 117-127
Division F – Special rules S. 128-143
Division G – Deferred and other special income arrangements S. 144-148
Division H – Exemptions S. 149
Division I – Returns, assessments, payments and appeals S. 150-168
Division J – Appeals S. 169-180

Part 1.1 to XIV Other Taxes included in S. 180.2 – 219

Part XV - Administration and Enforcement S. 220-244

Part XVI - Tax Avoidance S. 245, 246

Part XVI.1 - Transfer pricing S. 247

Part XVII – Interpretation S. 248-262

Regulations

RESEARCH TAX TOPICS:

1.Keeping Records

2.Students

3.Employees

4.Employers

5.CPP and EI

6.Business

7.New Business

8.Industry Canada

9.Self-employment or partnership

10.Corporations

11.Employee benefits

12.Capital Property

13.Capital gains

14.Rental property

15.Principal residence

16.Investment income

17.Retirement

18.Tax Free Savings Account

19.Marriage/Partnership

20.Separation / Divorce

21.Support

22.Personal Tax Credits

23.Line 300- 378

24.Child and Family Benefits

25.Persons with disabilities

26.Social assistance

27.Seniors

28.Death

29.Trusts and Estates

30.Consequences and Convictions

RESEARCH: ADMINISTRATION OF TAX

(some links provided, but the idea is that students should learn how to utilize the search engine on the CRA website)

Keeping Records

—Tax Returns (some major categories)

—T1 (Personal)

—T1Adj

—T2 (Corporate)

—T3 (Trusts & Estates)

—T4 (Payroll)

—T5 (Interest and dividends)

Forms and publications:

Tax Schedules
Topic list: Guides, Forms and Publications
Document Types
Client groups

Representation

Security of Taxpayer Information

epass Enabled Services

CRA's electronic services overview

Individual: T1013

Level 1 allows CRA to disclose information to the representative
Level 2 allows the representative to request changes to your tax returns

Note Level 2 authorization does not permit changes to your basic information such as your address, identification, marital status, direct deposit or 8 digit code

Who should you give authorization to?

Consider carefully whether to provide Level 2 authorization

Adjusting your tax return may be accomplished by letter, Form T1-ADJ or online in My Account using a change request.

Business: Contact person/representative

Form RC1 Request for a Business Number - provides for Contact Person only - must complete an RC59 to authorize a representative
Pamphlet RC2 - The Business Number and your CanRev Accounts
Form RC59 Business Consent Form
- Level 1 review information
- Level 2 allows the authorized person to make changes

Note: Unlike Individual representative, if you don't choose a Level for Business the default is to Level 2!

Adjusting your corporate tax return

GST/HST Rebates

CPT139 CPP/EI - Authorizing or Cancelling a Representative

Internet Security Tools

Canadian Legal Information Institute

CanLII is a non-profit organization managed by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada.

CanLII’s goal is to make Canadian law accessible for free on the internet

CanLII is testing a Beta version that will enhance the delivery of legislative material, currently Federal statutes and regulations and some provinces are available with more coming online shortly.

Financial Literacy and Education Summits

(sponsored by Visa)

April 20, 2025

April 19, 2025

April 4, 2026

More useful links:

CRA study on youth and taxes

Financial Consumer Agency of Canada

AICPA Financial Literacy website

BC Education – IRP Resources

University of the Fraser Valley

BC Securities Commission