A 92-year-old woman and her son recently asked me to help her with her taxes and overall financial situation.

At first, it seemed like a simple tax filing.

But when I reviewed her return, I noticed something important: she had not claimed a property tax deduction/credit she was entitled to as a senior in Canada. That got her back $500 this year.

Now, I could have stopped there. I could have fixed the current year, filed the return, and moved on. But that did not sit right with me. I love finding money left lying on the table.

So I went back further.

I reviewed the previous years to see whether this same deduction had been missed before. And it had been missed. Not just once. For several years.

In fact, it had been missed for 8 out of 10 years.

By going back and correcting those missed claims, we are able to generate approximately $5,000 in tax refunds for her.

That money was already hers. She's owed it. Its legal. It was just sitting there, unclaimed. And this is exactly why I love doing this work. Because sometimes the real value is not just in filing the return in front of you.

It is in asking better questions. Looking deeper. Checking what was missed. And making sure people are not leaving money on the table simply because no one took the time to review the full picture. Like my research showed me before we launched taxes as a service, people often said, "Accountants don't care. They just file. They don't look or care what credits or deductions I get."

For seniors, families, business owners, and everyday Canadians, missed credits and deductions do add up quickly. One small line item can become thousands of dollars over time.

So here is my message:

Do not assume your tax return is optimized just because it was filed. Filed does not always mean reviewed. And reviewed does not always mean maximized.

If you or someone in your family wants a second look at past tax returns, especially for seniors, caregivers, medical expenses, disability credits, property tax credits, pension income, or missed deductions, I may be able to help.

Sometimes one review can make a real difference.

And in this case, it made a $5,000 difference.

If you'd like a review of your taxes and situation, just let us know.

Best,

Michael

(By the way, this was our first time doing taxes as a service for clients. So we made a few mistakes ourselves. But we caught them, got into communication with client and the CRA and made the corrections immediately. And in some cases we went above and beyond to make good on our service.)