Wealthsimple Tax Review: Free Basic Plan, Plus and Pro
Updated
Wealthsimple Tax (formerly SimpleTax) is a web-based tax program whose Basic plan is free on a pay-what-you-want basis and covers the core filing most Canadians need, Quebec included. This review covers what the free plan includes, what the paid Plus and Pro plans add, and where another product may fit better. It is one of our Canadian tax software reviews.
Wealthsimple Tax earns full marks for price and ease of use because its free plan handles nearly every common return, and loses points mainly on support, since the Basic plan has no phone help and no audit protection. Our method for rating tax software sets out what the categories cover.
Wealthsimple Tax’s Plans
Wealthsimple Tax now offers three plans rather than a single free product:
Plan
Price
What’s Included
Basic
Free (pay-what-you-want)
Every core tax form and filing feature: employment, investment, self-employment, and rental income; Quebec (TP-1) support; CRA auto-fill; NETFILE; RRSP and couple optimization
Plus
$40
Everything in Basic, plus up to eight returns, priority email support, and audit protection
Pro
$80
Everything in Plus, plus nine or more returns and 1:1 expert review of your return. Not currently available to Quebec filers.
The core filing experience (the forms and calculations most Canadians need, including Quebec’s TP-1) remains on the free Basic plan. The Plus and Pro plans are optional upgrades for audit protection, filing many returns under one account, or getting a tax expert to review your return, not requirements to file.
What’s Included on the Basic Plan (Free)
Feature
Included
Employment income (T4)
✅
Investment income (T5, T3)
✅
Capital gains/losses
✅
RRSP deductions
✅
Self-employment (T2125)
✅
Rental income (T776)
✅
Employment expenses (T777)
✅
Moving expenses
✅
Medical expenses
✅
Charitable donations
✅
Student tuition credits
✅
Childcare deductions
✅
Work-from-home deduction
✅
Foreign income
✅
Quebec provincial return (TP-1)
✅
CRA auto-fill
✅
NETFILE
✅
RRSP optimization
✅
Couple optimization
✅
Carryforward import
✅
How It Works
Step-by-Step Filing
Step
What You Do
Time
1. Create account
Sign in with Wealthsimple account
1 min
2. Auto-fill
Connect to CRA, import all T-slips
2 min
3. Review slips
Confirm imported information is correct
3 min
4. Add missing items
Enter deductions, credits not on slips
5-10 min
5. Optimize
Software maximizes refund automatically
Automatic
6. Review summary
Check refund/balance owing
2 min
7. NETFILE
Submit directly to CRA (and Revenu Québec, if applicable)
1 min
8. Choose a plan
Pay what you want on Basic, or upgrade to Plus/Pro
1 min
Total time
~15-20 minutes
CRA auto-fill
Step 2 uses the CRA’s Auto-fill my return service to import your T-slips, RRSP contribution room and carry-forward amounts once you sign in; slips appear only after issuers send them to the CRA. How the service works is summarised in CRA Auto-fill my return.
RRSP Optimization
One of Wealthsimple Tax’s most useful features, available on the free Basic plan, is its RRSP optimizer. It calculates whether to:
Quebec resident wanting the Pro (expert review) tier
Not currently available; TurboTax and H&R Block offer expert review
Wealthsimple Tax vs TurboTax
Wealthsimple Tax’s free Basic plan covers the same core filing as TurboTax’s paid Deluxe, Premier and Self-Employed tiers, including Quebec’s TP-1, while TurboTax’s strengths are its more guided interview and its Expert Assist and Full Service products. The two, plus H&R Block, are compared on price and features in Wealthsimple Tax vs TurboTax vs H&R Block.