Quote:
Originally Posted by YouSureSir
If you don't have any income, are you still supposed to file taxes reporting nil income? I have always had a job and filed taxes, last year was the first year I didn't work and i lived off poker, but didn't file any taxes. Is this bad? And a red flag, or is it understood that if you don't have income you shouldn't file taxes anyways. (I wasn't really pro poker last year anyways)
Legally you are not required to file if you do not owe money or have not been requested to file.
The advantages of filing are that you get your GST as already noted plus some other credits depending on your location and situation. In Ontario for example you'd get the standard $100 plus a small percentage of your rent if you paid any. I have been told that in some provinces you have to file because of the supplemental health care fee but that is a provincial requirement and not anything to do with CRA.
I have also been told that if you wish to have a TFSA you must file but I find that odd and I don't trust the source.
With respect to will it set off red flags I don't know. Like I said before in theory all this information is in computers. It is really easy to program computers to do a lot of checking for stuff that is suspicious. Historically though CRA has missed some stuff that was very very blatant so it is unclear how much effort they put into it. My opinion of public servants is such that I wouldn't really worry too much.