I'm 21, how much do I have to earn before filing my taxes?

First off your dad can not claim you as a dependant, as of the date you turned 19 you stopped being a dependant for tax purposes unless you have a mental or physical disability.

Second, you should always file a tax return even if you make $10,000 or less. You could miss out on tax credit like GST cheques, as for the tuition you have to claim it the tax year you went to school and if can not use it, it can be carried forward till you can. The RESP is Registered Education Savings Plan and if you go to the web site below it will tell all about it.

You are old enough to have your own tax return.

I hope this helps

Legally, you only have to file if you owe money, or if you are asked to file. Generally, it is in your interest to file if you can get a refund or will be entitled to GSTC or CCTB.

If you got money from an RESP that came to you, they will have issued a slip to you (at T4A, I think). That money is income to you that you have to include in your income when you file.

For the tuition, education and textbook amounts, you claim those if you need them to reduce your tax payable to zero. If/when your tax payable is zero, you can either carry the excess tuition, education and textbook amounts forward for future years, or transfer them to a parent or grandparent. (If Dad paid the tuition, I'd say it's fair for him to get the deduction).

I'm not sure what you mean by he's been claiming you in his taxes. He could only claim you as a dependent (or an eligible dependent) up until you turned 18, unless you have a disability.

I'd suggest that you let the personal accountant prepare a return, but only file a return through them when you understand what is being filled in on the return, and you are comfortable with that. If they go ahead and e-file a return without your consent, you could complain to the CRA and the accountant could lose his/her ability to e-file. Make it clear if/when you give the information to your dad and/or the accountant that you don't want them to file a return without you being able to review it and ask questions. The accountant should be happy and willing to do that.

You need to go back and file your returns for the past 3 years. The reason for this is because, even with zero income, you would have been entitled to receive GST cheques back from the government from the moment you turned 19. That's several hundred dollars handed to you each year just for filing your taxes!!! Also, depending on your Province, you could also be entitled to the Provincial credit for filing ($75 per year here in BC).

As soon as you became an adult, your father could no longer claim you as a dependant. Since you have been earning income, and having source deductions taken off, you will be entitled to receive all of your tax deducted back since you have earned so little.

You should tell your Dad that you will be filing all of your past returns to get your GST and Provincial credits that you are entitled. If you earned money in past years and don't have those old T slips, call the Canada Revenue Agency at 1-800-959-8281 and ask them to send you the copies they have on file.

RESP's are registered education savings plans. If your parents set one up for you, and a withdrawal was made for you to cover school, you will have to pay tax on that amount. Tell your Dad that you need the RESP slip to do YOUR taxes yourself. Also remember that since you are paying the tax on the money, you need to claim the Tuition and Education amounts (Schedule 11) on both your Federal and Provincial return. Any amount that you don't need can be carried forward to other tax years when you need the deduction. Be warned though, your Dad will probably say he gets to deduct it. Unless you file your return and state on it that you are giving it to a parent, and sign your T2202A from your school, he can't claim it.

If you don't think you can do them on your own, go to a tax place (like H&R Block) and have them do all of them for you. They have a $30 special for each year that you're a student, or they can give you cash back for each year you file.

Were those jobs all the same year or different years? If you made enough in any one year to owe taxes, you were required to file. If the IRS didn't contact you, it's because enough taxes were taken out that you had a refund coming, so didn't owe them anything For years 2008 and later, if you had refunds coming you can still file and get your refund.