The average refund for the 2011 tax-filing season is more than $1,580-an increase of about $70 per person since last year, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) said Friday.
Figures released by the CRA illustrate the growing popularity of electronic filing. Among the 25.4 million returns received as of June 14, 16.8 million were filed using electronic services, which is up from 16.1 million at the same time last year.
Paper filing continues to decrease in popularity. So far this year, 8.6 million paper returns have been filed compared to the 8.8 million that were filed last year.
New tax credits this year such as the volunteer firefighters’ tax credit and the children’s arts tax credit helped Canadians reduce their taxes, the CRA noted.
Volunteer firefighters were able to claim up to $3,000 on their tax return and parents were able to claim up to $500 for enrolling their children in prescribed programs.