We love talking to the tax preparers because it inspires the evolution of TaxCycle. This year was no exception. These ideas, big and small, make all the difference to the day-to-day task of tax preparation.
In case you didn’t read each set of release notes in detail, scroll down for the long list of the enhancements you inspired in TaxCycle this season. Can you spot your suggestion?
Thank you for your support!
TaxCycle T1
The bulk of changes to TaxCycle T1 are tax compliance mandated by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and other government authorities. However, it’s your tweaks that help make working on those forms so much easier.
ContractPayments worksheet
Enter contract or government payments reported on the T5018, T1204 and RL-27 on the new ContractPayments worksheet. TaxCycle also imports data into this worksheet for T1204 slips downloaded from the CRA's Auto-fill my return (AFR) and RL-27 slips downloaded from Québec Tax Data Download (TDD).
At the bottom of the worksheet, select the reporting method, whether to transfer to a T2125, transfer directly to line 13500, or not to transfer because the income is already accounted for. See the Contract Payments Worksheet help topic for details.
Tweaks to forms and worksheets
Selecting the new Detailed and Simplified check boxes at the top of the Medical Travel worksheet to select the default calculation method.
Leaving the Calculate CCA on buildings check box on income statements unchecked when carrying forward.
Including Ontario Trillium benefit amounts to the Ontario 428 5YearSummary.
e-Transfer added as an option for recording payments on the Billing worksheet
Auto-fill my return (AFR) enhancements
New tooltips to help you preview slip data downloaded from Auto-fill my return (AFR). These are especially useful to help you determine which slips to aggregate onto a single slip in TaxCycle.
A new summary to help you reconcile multiple T5008 slips downloaded from AFR. The T5008Slips lists all T5008 slips in the return, displays totals of slips amounts and allows you to customize columns like on other slips summaries.
The T3Rec summary to reconcile multiple T3 slips downloaded from AFR with the statements you receive. If you choose Do not import for all the T3 slips in the AFR import dialog box and enter the data from T3 slips you received by other means, then TaxCycle will detect any variance in the totals between the AFR data and the data you entered and display a review message.
New review messages
Alert when support payments (line 156) were reported in the prior year but not in the current year.
Warn when amounts in boxes 24 or 27 on the T4RSP slip exceed the maximum allowable for Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP) or Lifelong Learning Plan (LLP), and no excess amounts are reported in box 22.
TaxFolder’s First Season
Did you know our inspiration for TaxFolder sprung from conversations we had with you after implementing our first e-signature integration during the early days of the pandemic in March 2020?
We learned that you wanted a pricing model that better matched the needs of a tax preparation business, and that you needed more services than just electronic signatures to communicate securely and effectively with your clients during this second tax season of the pandemic (and beyond). From this, the idea of TaxFolder was born.
Over the course of this busy T1 season, your ongoing feedback helped evolve and improve TaxFolder and its integration with TaxCycle on practically a weekly basis. If you’re curious what changes you inspired, check out this news article.
TaxCycle T2
Tweaks to forms and worksheets
Improved the description in Part 1, column I.1 of Schedule 3, and revised the note in Part 2. Column I.1 is to calculate amount 2E in Part 2 according to ITA subsection (ii) under the definition of “eligible refundable dividend tax on hand” (ITA 129(4)(b)(ii)).
Updated the Federal, Québec and Alberta Instalments worksheets to include additional periods of estimated instalment payments: two additional periods for monthly instalments and one additional period for quarterly instalments.
Made it possible to edit the first and last name fields in Section 2—Certification of the T1134 Summary if you answer No to the question Use the contact person name entered on the Info worksheet?
New forms
CO-1029.8.33.CS Tax credit for SMBs that employ persons with a severely limited capacity for employment
CO-1029.8.33.TE Tax credit for SMBs to foster the retention of experienced workers
CO-1029.8.33.TF Agreement concerning the tax credit for SMBs to foster the retention of experienced workers
CO-1029.8.36.5 Tax credit for a design activity carried out by an outside consultant
CO-1029.8.36.7 Tax credit for an in-house design activity
CO-1029.8.36.DA Tax credit for the development of E-business
CO-1029.8.36.DC Election respecting the tax credit for the development of E-business
CO-1029.8.36.ID Cumulative limit allocation agreement for the tax credit for investment
CO-1029.8.36.IN Investment tax credit
TP-1086.R.23.12 Costs incurred for work on an immovable
Address label template. This included creating salutation and address snippets and using them in the client letter, engagement letter and invoice.
T106 enhancements
Added a new on-screen only field at the top of the T106 Summary. If you make an election to use functional currency to prepare the T106 summary and slips, you can add the exchange rate in the field. This new field is used to determine whether the total reportable transactions is more than $1,000,000,000 CAN.
If a T106 slip for a non-resident entity does not have any reportable transactions in every tax year and you would like to carry forward the information in a T106 slip for that non-resident entity each year, you can choose to exclude the slip from being filed, as well as choose to carry forward that slip.
TaxCycle T3
Automatic completion of the T3-ADJ for filing adjustment requests from TaxCycle T3. If you make changes to a completed T3 return, TaxCycle now automatically prompts you to create and file form T3-ADJ. For detailed instructions, please see the T3 Adjustment Request (T3-ADJ) help topic.
Smart Copy/Paste for income statements, worksheets, tax and credit forms, filing and authorization forms. See the Smart Copy/Paste help topic to learn how to copy data between forms.
Calculate CCA on buildings check box remains unchecked on income statements when carrying forward.
AUT-01, Authorize a Representative for Offline Access
TaxCycle T4
Allow adding Address fields to the T4 and T4A slip summaries.
Added other fields to optional columns for the T4A slip summary.
Added a mobile phone number field for an authorized person on the Info worksheet. (All slips modules.)
TP-64.3, General Employment Conditions, can be completed for employees along with either the T2200 and T2200S.
TaxCycle T5013
T5013 and RL-15: Added an automated footnote for the T5013 and RL-15 where Income Tax Act (ITA) 40(3.1) applies to a limited partner with a negative Adjusted Cost Basis (ACB) reported as a deemed capital gain.
TaxCycle T3010
Added review messages to check that total expenses are accounted for in the split between charitable, administration, and fundraising expenses.
Added the MR-69, Authorization to Communicate Information or Power of Attorney, to the TaxCycle T3010 module. It can either be mailed or filed electronically to Revenu Québec for processing.
TaxCycle Forms
RC66 Canada Child Benefits Application for 2019 and 2020
RC66Sch Status in Canada and Income Information for 2019 and 2020
CO-502 Election in Respect of a Dividend Paid Out of a Capital Dividend Account
TP-518 Transfer of Property by a Taxpayer to a Taxable Canadian Corporation
TP-529 Transfer of Property by a Partnership to a Taxable Canadian Corporation
TP-614 Transfer of Property to a Canadian Partnership
A new row for the totals from columns that contain amounts.
Support for Excel formulas, such as Sum or Average, in cells that contain amounts.
Save Summary Columns
You can now save your columns for slips summaries and other tables that allow customization. (See the Slips Summary help topic to learn how to configure columns on these types of summaries.) Once you set up the columns as you like them, right-click on the column heading and select Save default columns for [summary name].
You can also include column settings in an Options Profile by pointing to the path on the Summary Columns page under Files and Folders in options to your Options Profile. (Learn how to do this in the Move Settings and Templates into Options Profiles help topic.)
Keyboard Shortcuts
Addition of keyboard shortcuts for review marks to ease in the transition from Taxprep®.
Automatic backup of Options Profiles. Each time you add a file to an Options Profile, save a template file that is in an Options Profile, or click Apply or OK in the Options dialog to save changes to an Options Profile, TaxCycle automatically creates a copy of the zip file before saving the changes. You can find backups of the zip files in the same folder as the original Options Profile. The files have the extension .zipbak and the file name includes the date the file was created.
Printing review marks. A new check box on the print configuration dialog box allows you to include review marks when printing a form.
Templates
Singular and plural pronouns in options
We added a new option that allows you to choose which pronouns show in letter and email templates. By default, TaxCycle templates use plural pronouns, including “we,” “us,” “our” and “ours.” If you prefer to address your clients using the pronouns “I,” “me,” “my” and “mine,” change the selection on the Correspondence page in Options.
We updated all the English templates in the 2019 and 2020 tax modules to use the new code syntax that displays content based on the selected option (this option is not applicable in French). If you usually customize your own templates, you can also use this syntax. To learn more, read the Singular and Plural Pronouns help topic for details.
Easier template conditions
On the Templates page in module options, you can now choose from a list of pre-set relevant (visible in the return) or used conditions for each template. Or type to enter your own custom condition in either field. The selections on this page take precedence over the condition set in the built-in templates, without requiring that you clone the template. This means the template will continue to receive any updates we release. For instructions on setting relevant and used conditions for your templates, read the Template Print Conditions help topic.
Background layers for letterhead or footers
Add an image as the Background layer of any template in Templates module options. Upon printing to PDF or paper, TaxCycle inserts the image as a layer under the text of the template. This image does not display in the on-screen preview. Use this feature to add an image as letterhead that spans the entire width of the page—just like with preprinted letterhead—or to add a footer to every page of the printed document. To learn how, see the Background Layers help topic.
Add or Subtract Months
Add or subtract months to or from a field code using the addmonth() function.
For example:
To add two months to the signing date field: {{addmonth(CurrentClient.Info.Filing.SigningDate,2)}}.
To subtract three months from the same field: {{addmonth(CurrentClient.Info.Filing.SigningDate,(-3))}}.
Unlike the addymd() function, this function is biased toward the last day of the month, allowing it to handle months of different lengths and leap years. If the date passed to the function is the last day of the month, the date returned will also be the last day of the month. For example, February 29, 2020, plus 1 month will be March 31, 2020, whereas February 28, 2020, plus 1 month will equal March 28, 2020.
Various template changes
Added additional period(s) of estimated instalment payments to the T1 Client Letter (CLetter).
Displayed Service Canada as the issuer for T4A(OAS) slips in the T1 ISlips, JISlips and FISlips templates.
Added information about Québec tuition transfers and credits to the client letters (CLetter, JLetter and DLetter) in 2020 T1.
Added information about Québec medical expense claims to the client letters (CLetter, JLetter and DLetter) in 2020 T1.
Added a reference to suggest providing rent receipts for residents of Manitoba when applicable in the pre-season and post-season letters in 2020 T1 and the post-season letters in 2019 T1.
Added a condition to display the words “On behalf of” in front of the client name, under the signature field of the Engagement letter (ELetter) when a legal representative must sign the form.
Adjusted the margins and layout of signature fields on the T2 Engagement Letter (ELetter) to help it print on one page rather than two. (Please keep in mind, this depends on the height of the letterhead and logo for the letter.)
DoxCycle
A new Start Screen option to Show previous year as primary module. Check the box next to a module to make the prior year the default year when creating a new DoxCycle PDF file. On January 1, the default reverts to the current year until a newer module becomes available.
