If you have ever attempted to do your own tax return then you found there are a multitude of lines that have to be filled out and half of them you are not sure if they are applicable to you. Then along with this, are perhaps several other forms that you have to calculate to see if they are also applicable. One section that many people don’t understand is the Health premium.
Most people feel that their health care here in Ontario is free and they never are compelled to contribute to it unless they have various forms of private health insurance. The truth is however, if your income is over $20,000 then you will be contributing to your health care via your tax return.
As people work through the figures of their return they often think it is looking good and that they may end up with a bit of money coming back to them by way of refund. Then they arrive at the Ontario Health premium requirements and now things change and they often find they owe a bit of money to cover this tax expense.
The amount you have to pay is based on your income and increases according to your income amount. We really still can class ourselves as being fortunate in Ontario when it comes to the cost of our health care compared to the amount that we are required to contribute. Even a small contribution can be a little tough though for example, like seniors who already may have a lot of extra medical expenses that are not covered and yet because they are over the $20,000 income bracket they must contribute. One thing that should be kept in mind for these individuals is that for the medical expenses that they do have to cover, they may be able to claim a portion of these on their taxes as a medical expense.
Nobody minds paying for something if they are going to get value for their money. It is estimated that from the collection of these Ontario Health Care Tax it amounts to approx. $3 billion dollars. That is a very impressive amount of money that apparently is all infused into the Health care budget which this department then determines where the dollars are spent.
One of the big complaints about taxes in general is the public often seems unclear as to where their tax dollars are going and what the government does with the money it has. If you are one of these interested individuals and want to do a little research on your own then you can always take a look at the Public Accounts Record of Ontario which shows the financial sheets of where the money goes.
Your time would probably be better spent on getting your personal tax affairs in order by using a Toronto accountant who is going to be keen on getting your taxes done right, including the calculations for your Ontario Health Premium obligations.
