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Originally Posted by WTFRUDOING
My current situation is that I'm 24 and the last time I filed was 5 years ago when I worked 3-4 months at a regular job. Now that I have decided I'm not going to declare my poker winnings I have questions like "should I even file at all?" "if I do file, do I just enter in a bunch of 0's or is there something else I need to do?.
Well now that you have a job you have no choice but to file since I assume in 3-4 months of employment your income from that job exceeds the basic personal amount.
With respect to should you go back and file your previous years that is up to you. Doing so could get your some small amount of money. About $250 in GST refunds per year. In Ontario it would also get you $100 a year. If you paid rent in Ontario you would also get $250 + 2% of your rent back per year. If that is worth it to you then you should file. Basically you just go to the CRA site -- print out the forms for the specific years you wish to file -- fill them out. It isn't hard and anyone who can read English and is not ******ed should be able to filt them out without any problem.
If you wish to avail yourself of the TFSA either now or in the future you must file for 2009 and for every year you wish to be granted the yearly amount.
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I also have questions related to having a high undeclared income like "How do I get a decent sized credit card?"
That depends on a lot of things. Most importantly what kind of credit history you have. If you have a good enough credit history a credit card company will not ask for proof of income so you just apply for a reasonable card -- basically anything but the black or platinum cards.
If you are asking this question though I assume you have no credit history. In that case apply for the Capital One secured mastercard. You'll get a $500 limit in exchange for a $150-500 deposit. As soon as you get it ask for an increase of deposit form. Fill out the form and send it back with $2000. Your limit will mow be $2500 secured against your $2150-2500 deposit. You'll get the deposit back once you have demonstrated your are not a liability -- usually a year and a half to two years.
Now you need a second credit card. Again it will have to be secured. Your options are:
HomeEquity or People's Trust : both offer easy to get secured credit cards with up to $10,000 limit on a 1:1 deposit requirement. The negatives are that the cards have monthly fees and that everyone will know you are a sketchy individual using a secured card.
CIBC / RBC / Van City : best option in my opinion. They offer secured credit cards up to any limit at 1:1 deposits. Give them $10k and get a credit card with a $10k limit.
Scotia : Same except they require 110% deposit but it you already bank with them then not worth changing.
HSBC : offers secured cards but they want 300% deposit which is a little ****ed up.
If you check with the smaller credit unions they all tend to off secured cards but again most of them want a deposit to limit ratio that doesn't make sense.
Once you have these just use them responsibly. Keep the balance low and never make a late payment. Once you establish a credit history you are good to go.