About the interview

The interview asks you straightforward questions about your tax situation and then enters your information on the correct tax forms. Then TurboTax reviews your return for errors, helps you correct them, and then shows you how to file your return electronically or by mail.

Tip: Context-sensitive help is available on every screen. To view this help, click the Help button.

Interview sections

It's best to follow the interview in order. However, if you need to go to a different screen to check information you entered, use one of these methods:

Use the navigation tabs across the top of the screen.
Click Tools at the top of the screen and then click Find.
Click a Take Me There link at the top of certain help topics to go directly to an interview step or section.

Intro: Enter your personal and dependant information here.
If you used TurboTax to prepare your return last year, you can transfer information from last year's return.

If you plan to claim credits for your dependants, you can import information directly from their return into yours.
Profile: Tell us what happened in the tax year so we can customize the interview screens that you'll see. Take a few minutes here to select all the checkboxes that apply to you; this will save lots of time later because you'll only see steps that apply to your situation.
Income: Report your income from all sources, including employment, self-employment, unemployment benefits, pension and annuities, investments, child support, and revenue properties. Also report expenses related to employment and business.
RRSPs: Report your RRSP limit, contributions, withdrawals, and certain pension information. Also report Home Buyer's Plan (HBP) or Lifelong Learning Plan (LLP) repayments and labour-sponsored venture capital corporation (LSVCC) shares.
Deductions: Claim deductions and federal tax credits here. This include charitable donations, union or professional dues, political contributions, student loan interest payments, moving expenses, child and dependant care expenses, medical expenses, tuition expenses, business and investment losses, other deductions, and instalments paid. Also claim credits that you are transferring from a spouse, common-law partner, or dependant.
Provincial: Complete your provincial tax forms to determine if you are eligible for provincial tax credits, royalty payments, labour-sponsored investment fund credits, and provincial property and sales tax credits.
Review: In this section, TurboTax checks for errors and omissions on your return, helps you fix them, and suggests possible tax savings.
File: This is the last step! You can save a PDF version of your tax return, or print a copy for your records. Then choose whether to file electronically or print and mail your return to the CRA. If your return is eligible for NETFILE, you can get your refund in as little as 10 days.

The CRA requires you to keep your tax records for 7 years. We recommend that you store a copy of your tax return on a portable storage device to guard against computer failure.