Wealthsimple Tax Explained: How Free Filing Actually Works
Pay-what-you-want tax software sounds like a catch waiting to happen. It mostly isn't, but there are two situations where it genuinely isn't the right tool, and one timing mistake that costs investors a refiling.
Most Canadian tax software works on the same model: a free tier that handles a straightforward return, and a paywall that appears somewhere around the point you mention a medical expense or a capital gain. You're two hours in, your data is entered, and upgrading costs less emotional energy than starting over. It's an effective business model.
Wealthsimple Tax doesn't do that, and the reason is worth understanding before you decide whether to trust it.
What It Actually Is
Wealthsimple Tax was SimpleTax, an independent Canadian product that Wealthsimple acquired in 2019 and rebranded in 2021. It's certified by the CRA for NETFILE and by Revenu Quebec for TP-1 returns, meaning you can submit federal and Quebec returns directly from the software rather than printing anything.
The pricing model is pay-what-you-want. You complete your return, see your refund, and then a screen asks what you'd like to pay, with a suggested amount you can slide to zero. Filing at $0 is a supported outcome, not a loophole.
Critically, and this is the part that distinguishes it: every form is unlocked on the free tier. Self-employment, rental income, investment income and capital gains, crypto, medical expenses, charitable donations, multiple T-slips. There's no upgrade prompt halfway through because there's nothing behind a paywall to upgrade to.
The three tiers
Basic
$0+
Pay what you want, including nothing. All forms, all credits, all deductions. NETFILE submission included. This is what most people need.
Plus
~$40
Adds audit protection and support features. Included at no charge for clients at Wealthsimple's higher asset tiers.
Pro
~$80
Higher tier again, aimed at more complex or multi-return households. Not currently offered in Quebec or in French.
The Features That Actually Save Time
Auto-fill my return
The single biggest time-saver. Connect to your CRA My Account and the software pulls slips the CRA already holds, such as T4s, T5s, T3s and RRSP receipts, directly into your return. For anyone with several employers or investment accounts, this eliminates most of the tedious data entry and, more importantly, most of the transcription errors.
Credit and deduction search
Searches available credits and deductions against your situation. Useful mainly because Canadian tax credits are numerous, provincially variable, and easy to miss if you don't know they exist.
Optimisation suggestions
Prompts on things like how much RRSP to actually claim this year versus carry forward, and how to allocate donations or credits between spouses. The RRSP one matters: many people claim the full contribution in the year they make it when carrying part of it forward to a higher-income year would be worth more.
Maximum refund guarantee
If you refile with competing software before the stated deadline and get a larger refund, Wealthsimple refunds what you paid, up to a capped amount. Read the current terms, because the cap and the deadline are specific.
Ten years of filing costs
Typical paid software versus pay-what-you-want, for a return with investments and self-employment income
Paid software, premium tier
$800–$1,200
$80–$120 per year over 10 years
Pay-what-you-want
$0–$200
$0–$20 per year over 10 years
Difference over a decade: roughly $600–$1,200.
Illustrative. Competitor pricing varies by tier and year.
The Timing Mistake
This one is specific and it catches investors every single year.
Don't file in February if you hold ETFs or REITs in a non-registered account
T3 slips, the ones reporting trust distributions from ETFs, mutual funds and REITs, are frequently not issued until late March, well after NETFILE opens. File early without them and you'll be amending your return later, which is slower and more irritating than simply waiting. If all your investments sit inside a TFSA or RRSP this doesn't apply, because those don't generate slips.
The general rule: NETFILE opening in February doesn't mean your slips exist yet. Wait until you've received everything, and use Auto-fill to check what the CRA has on record before you submit.
Where It Isn't the Right Tool
Two situations where paying for something else is the better decision.
If you want someone to talk to. The support model is help articles and messaging rather than a phone line with an accountant on the other end. If your return genuinely worries you, or you want hand-holding through an unfamiliar situation, paid competitors offer more direct human support and some include professional review.
If your situation is genuinely complex. Corporate returns, complicated cross-border matters, estates, or anything where a mistake carries real consequence. This is accountant territory, not software territory, regardless of which software it is. The cost of an accountant is small relative to the cost of getting a complex return wrong.
A note on data: the software is cloud-based, meaning your tax information is stored on Wealthsimple's servers rather than your own machine. For most people that's no different from online banking. If you have a specific objection to cloud-stored financial data, desktop tax software still exists and is the alternative.
Does Using It Mean Committing to Wealthsimple?
No. You don't need any other Wealthsimple account to file with it, and it doesn't require you to move investments anywhere.
If you do hold accounts there, the integration is convenient, since your details prefill and investment slips flow through, but that's a nicety rather than a requirement. Plenty of people use the tax product alone.
Verify before you rely on this: tier pricing, guarantee terms, NETFILE opening dates and provincial availability all change year to year. Everything here reflects our understanding at the time of writing and is illustrative. Confirm current details with Wealthsimple and the CRA. Nothing in this article is tax advice. If your situation is complicated, speak to an accountant.
The Broader Point
Tax software is one of several recurring costs that Canadians pay largely out of habit. Eighty to a hundred and twenty dollars a year for filing, a hundred and eighty for a chequing account that could be free, a couple of hundred more in foreign transaction fees on travel and cross-border shopping. None of them feels significant in isolation. Together they're a meaningful annual sum for no benefit.
The same logic runs through the other tools worth knowing about: the Wealthsimple Cash account for no-fee day-to-day banking with 1% back and no foreign transaction charge, Wise for international transfers at the mid-market rate, and HomeExchange for travel accommodation without nightly costs.
For the roughly eighty percent of Canadians whose returns are ordinary, meaning employment income, some investments and a few credits, there's no good reason to pay for tax software. Wait for your T3 slips, use Auto-fill, and pay whatever you think the time saved was worth.
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This page contains a referral link. We may receive a benefit if you sign up using our code, at no extra cost to you. Wealthsimple Tax pricing, tier features and certification status can change. Always verify current details with Wealthsimple and the CRA before relying on them. This page is independent and not affiliated with Wealthsimple Technologies Inc., and nothing here constitutes tax advice.