DT Max - What's new for T1/T3 version 9.10?

What's new for T1/T3 version 9.10?

The latest DT Max program update is now available. It features the fully functional T1/TP-1 program for tax years 1996 to 2005 and fully supports T1 efile. It also includes the T3/TP-646 program for fiscal periods ending from 2003 to 2006 inclusively.

V9.10 also marks the release of the first CD-Rom for the 2005 tax calculation module.

Please note that all program versions are always made available on the Internet.

In this edition...

DT Max T1

Known issues fixed in v9.10
About the tax changes contained in this version
New features
Reminders

DT Max T3

Program certification
Feature enhancements
New forms
New keywords
Reminder

DT Max T1

Known issues fixed in v9.10

Street number being reported as the apartment number

About the tax changes contained in this version

The DT Max knowledge base will help you stay abreast of all the tax changes in effect.

Since this release is the second 2005 production version of DT Max, all changes previously announced are included. On this subject, here are some useful links:

What's new for version 9.01?

Tax changes in DT Max (2005)

Tax brackets and rates tables (2005)

Non refundable tax credits (2005)

By virtue of their importance, we thought relevant to recap some tax changes that have been integrated into DT Max.

FEDERAL

All provisions of the federal economic and fiscal update have been implemented into DT Max.

A new non refundable tax credit for adoption expenses has taken effect.

DT Max now produces the principal residence forms (T2091/TP-274).

ONTARIO

The adoption expenses tax credit is now also for Ontario.

The Ontario Health Premium (OHP) is now payable at 100%, up to a maximum of $900.

The Ontario tax credits for home ownership savings plan, graduate transitions, workplace child care, workplace accessibility, and educational technology expired in 2004.

The income threshold used in the calculation of the Ontario property and sales tax credits has been increased for senior couples.

QUEBEC

The Quebec simplified tax system has been abolished.

Although Quebec is returning to a single detailed form, the mechanics of deciding which is the better option for the taxpayer remain.

In order to retain the benefits of the lump sum that the simplified system offered, the complementary amount of $2,965 is still granted. Starting in 2005, the calculation of non-refundable tax credits must include the higher of the following: the lump sum of $2,965, or the total of:

The contributions to the QPP/CPP
The employment insurance premiums
The contributions to the Health Services Fund

Reform of Quebec government assistance for families

Since January 1, 2005, Quebec families with dependent children and low-income workers receive assistance throughout the year that replaces the following:

The non-refundable tax credits respecting dependent children, Q[367]
The family tax reduction Q[420]
The PWA (Parental Wage Assistance or APPORT) program

This sensibly changes the landscape of how dependent children are claimed on the Quebec return. However, a Schedule A will still be required to make any of the following claims for 2005:

Amount for post-secondary studies (maximum 2 semesters)
Amount for single-parent family for children over 18
Amount for other dependent children

Restructuring of Quebec Schedule A regarding dependants under 18

The schedule that calculates dependent children amounts has been partially reorganized to cover situations of minor children and adult children pursuing post-secondary studies.

To support the calculation of the reduction in allocated amounts resulting from the dependant turning 18, DT Max now produces workcharts detailing the mechanics.

Full indexation of the taxation system

This measure affects the following:

Tax adjustment for income replacement indemnities (TP-1 line 358)

It comes in the form of an adjustment of the non-refundable tax credits if the taxpayer received compensation for loss, or an RL-5 type of indemnities such as workers compensation, and the ones related to traffic accidents.

Increase of the Quebec prescription drug insurance plan premium (Schedule K)

The new maximum premium is $507.50

Déclaration de renseignements pour le Registre des entreprises du Québec (Schedule O)

Revenu Québec sent all persons registered with the Registre des entreprises du Québec a statement summarizing the information this agency detains on their business. They must update the information concerning the business annually by completing Schedule O. The annual registration fee of $32.00 is now payable through the TP-1 return.

In DT Max, you can fill out Schedule O with the NEQ keyword group (business income section in SmartStart) or as an alternative use the "schedule O" alias.

Please note that according to provisions of the Charte de la langue française, this form will always be printed in French.

Work premium tax credit (Schedule P)

This is a refundable tax credit based on the family situation and income, calculated on Schedule P and carried over to line 456 of the TP-1 return.

Here are the maximum amounts according to each family situation:

Person living alone	$512.40
Couple without children	$789.88
Single-parent family	$2,196.00
Couple with children	$2,821.00

The amount is transferable between spouses, and taxpayers have the option to request advance payments, which take place in January, April, July, and October. Advance payments will appear on an RL-19 slip issued to the recipient.

The concept of the designated child, previously found in the now defunct tax reduction for families, is returning in much the same manner on Schedule P. The designated child income in excess of the base amount ($6,365) will reduce the tax credit respecting the work premium. The designated child is automatically determined by DT Max but the Optimize keyword enables you to modify its behaviour.

New features

New licence key system (T1, T2, T3)

The activation procedure of your DT Max program is slightly different from past years. You will from now on need to enter a 16-digit licence key sent to you by mail to activate your software once version 9.10 is installed.

Please read Installing an updated licence for further details.

The DT Max updater program (T1, T2, T3)

DT Max now comes with a sophisticated updater program that will enable you to download and install updates and patches quickly and efficiently.

Using the DT Max updater you can check for updates from DT Max or set it to automatically check for new releases at regular intervals, so you know you are always using the most current DT Max products. Either way, you will always be able to choose which updates you want to download and install.

To use the DT Max updater, select Check for program updates from the Help menu. Click here to get more information about this topic.

Improved ergonomics of the T2200 group: T2200 - Employment conditions

This keyword group has been entirely redesigned. The data entry has been streamlined and rendered highly automated and intuitive. The keywords Fed-Conditions and Que-Conditions are the only ones that you use as many times as needed to represent the set of conditions under which the taxpayer is working.

Reminder: In order to generate Quebec form TP-64.3, there must be entries in the keyword group Employment-Exp (which appears automatically in SmartStart mode after the T2200 group).

T5013 - Statement of partnership income

Keywords relating to flow-through shares of the T5013 option have been revised for more clarity. These fields can be found in section 3 of this slip, which is titled Allocation of Canadian exploration and development expenses.

Addition of the APARTMENT keyword

The Apartment number now has its own keyword in the Street group. DT Max assures compliance of its presentation with government specifications and converts the addresses of 2004 files with the apartment number in the Street keyword to the new keyword arrangement.

New federal 2D bar code (T1)

Following Revenu Québec's example, the federal government now requires that income tax software print two-dimensional bar codes. Acting as a keying summary, these bar codes REPLACE the T1-KS, which has been abolished.

These bar codes are printed on the bottom of page 1 of the federal T1 return for almost all tax situations. If the tax situation does not warrant generating a bar code, per federal specifications, the return will be filed as is, without a bar code.

For taxpayers with a business or rental property, there will normally be 1 or 2 bar codes at the bottom of page 2.

The DT Max default value is set to print the federal bar codes (highly recommended). Should you need to disable the printing of the bar codes it is possible to do so within the Printing options of the Preferences menu.

The CRA states that the 2D bar code allows for more accurate processing as manual data capture is eliminated.

For a complete list of the CRA's guidelines on the printing of bar codes, please jump to the New federal 2D bar code section in What's new for version 9.01? where this topic was originally discussed.

Client letter templates (T1)

New client letter templates have been added to the DT Max program directory (typically C:\Program Files\DT Max). You will find below their respective names and descriptions.

Use the keyword ClientLetter to enter the client letter template you wish to use for your client. It is also possible to set one of the client letter templates as your default client letter. To that end, select the option Client letter from the Preferences menu.

Template clients (T1)

Six template clients have been added to the T1 program. They are available in the right-hand side menu to help you with the data entry process. These templates are designed to help users of the DT Max T1 program familiarize themselves with the data entry process in different tax situations. They cover the following topics: rental property, foreign income, business income, employment expenses, tax shelters and investments.

Reminders

If you file a Quebec paper return, please note that you do not submit the jacket to the MRQ. You are only required to submit form TPF-1.W titled Keying summary for the income tax return. However, ALL other schedules, forms and keying summaries must be submitted. In essence, the TPF-1.W only exempts the taxpayer from sending in the 4 pages of the TP-1 return. The Quebec bar code contains all the information provided in the tax return. By submitting form TPF-1.U, the processing of the tax return is greatly facilitated.

As always, we recommend that you verify your carryforwards carefully before processing your client files.

DT Max T3

Program certification

DT Max T3 has received approval for the 2005 trust forms. Therefore, T3 2005 and 2006 trust returns can now be filed with DT Max 9.10. However, the 2006 returns will be printed on 2005 forms with 2006 rates.

For more information, please refer to these topics for each province:

T3 tax brackets and rates (2005)

T3 tax brackets and rates (2006)

Feature enhancements

The filing due date of the trust return can now be seen on the executive summary as well as the notes and diagnostics page.

A new option has been entered in the Preferences menu under the User's defaults to authorize online access to the T1013 form.

New forms

As DT Max T3 celebrates its first-year anniversary, version 9.10 introduces a good number of important improvements, namely:

Expansion of the Business group. You may now produce the following forms:

Foreign income

Please be advised that DT Max does not automatically calculate the deduction respecting subsection 20(12). In order to apply this deduction, use the Ded-20(12)-OV keyword.

Investment tax credit

T2038 - Investment tax credit

Here is the list of all the other forms that have been added:

New keywords

Use the keyword Business to select a category of activity where financial data such as business income and expenses will be entered, including data pertaining to rental properties.

The keyword Foreign-Tax opens a group that enables you to enter information concerning foreign credits and deductions specific to a country.

Information entered in this group will apply strictly to the country chosen.

Use the keyword Foreign-Cr-OV to override the amount of federal and/or provincial foreign tax credits calculated on forms T2209, T2036 and/or TP-772.

A separate entry is required for business and non business foreign tax credits.

Use the keyword Foreign-Bus-CF to enter foreign business tax credits carried forward.

This entry is only required for new client files. Amounts from prior years are carried forward by DT Max.

Enter the country of origin of the credit.

Use the keyword Ded-20(12)-OV to enter the amount of federal foreign tax deduction to be claimed under subsection 20(12).

DT Max will enter this amount as other deductions from total income on line 40 of the federal return and on line 70 of the Quebec tax return.

Use the keyword For-Deduct-OV to override the automatic calculation of the deduction claimed under subsection 20(11).

This type of entry must be personalized, i.e. the 20(11) deduction is calculated on an individual basis. A separate 20(11) deduction will be calculated for each investment income, for each different country. Therefore, if an override is required, it must be entered within the group where it is to apply.

DT Max will enter this amount as other deduction from total income on line 40 of the federal return and on line 70 of the Quebec return.

Enter the keyword ITC and select from the list of codes available in the current tax year.

This is a parent keyword that opens the ITC group. You will see all the secondary keywords associated with the ITC claim.

Use the keyword T3-Adjust to enter the T3 jacket line number to which the adjustment on T3-ADJ will apply.

This is a parent keyword that opens the T3-ADJUST group. You will see all the secondary keywords associated with the form.

Use the keyword Foreign-Info to indicate which information return with respect to foreign property you wish to complete.

Reminder