I’m continuing to round-up my tax slips prior to this year’s test of any free tax software to complete our 2013 tax returns. I printed out slips from Tangerine, formerly ING Direct, and sorted out a few quirks in the interest they reported. Next, I’m signing in to our PC Financial accounts to get our tax slips including our T5s.
We have a joint chequing account at PC Financial. I can pretty well guarantee you, though, that I won’t be able to see the T5 for the interest earned on that account. So far every time I try to do anything at PC Financial I find I’m a second class citizen. Special offers, inter-bank transfers and tax slips all seem to require the all-mighty presence of the Primary Account Holder a.k.a. my husband.
Still, here goes.
Can I Get the T5 for My Joint PC Financial No Fee Account If I’m the Secondary Account Holder?
No. But the reason isn’t what I expected. Keep reading if you care. (Ok, please keep reading even though you don’t care.)
Get and Print Tax Receipts from PC Financial
So I signed in to my PC Financial account and wandered all around their website and FAQs. I gradually came to the surprised conclusion that you can’t get your PCF T5 tax receipts online!
To check, I phoned PCF.
It’s true. They mail T5s. They are not available online.
When Can I Expect my PC Financial T5 to Arrive in the Mail from Canada Post?
Searching around the internet, I checked the RedFlagDeals thread from the spring of 2013 about when people received their T5s and other tax forms. It appears that people started receiving T5s from PCF in mid-February and were still receiving them at the beginning of March.
Legally, the bank has to issue them by February 28.
So, I’d say Tangerine ING Direct has PCF beaten on this score. On January 15, my husband and I both printed off our T5s from Tangerine ING Direct. Now we’ll have to wait, possibly till March, to get the same information from PC Financial. I’m not impressed.
UPDATE: Our T5 for our chequing account arrived in the mail on Monday, February 24, 2014. And, oh happy days, they did not correctly report my husband’s SIN or mine, so I’ll have to follow up with PC Financial about that.
What Can I Do While I Wait for my T5?
If your T5 is only for bank account interest, you can also easily calculate it yourself. For each bank account, open your transaction history. Make a note of the interest paid each month. Add up the interest earned from each month in 2013 and you’re done.
It’s much more difficult for GICs and other term investments that have been earning interest in 2013 but which did not mature that year. You must pay taxes on the accrued interest but you may not know what formula the bank is using to calculate this amount. In that case you will probably have to wait until they issue the T5 or be prepared to do some research.
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Do you have to wait for your bank or credit union to mail you your T5s or can you zip in and print them online? Please share your experiences with a comment.