Newly self employed?

[DaveVS]

So I'm confused.  Turbotax at import & before I select anything is saying I'm newly self employed.   

That's a surprise to me.

If I just enter a T4 and very carefully make sure nothing anywhere says I'm Self employed; it's trying do deduct employment CPP deductions on line 22215.  

Am I missing something?  Does Turbotax think I'm self employed? (I'm not & I don't have any of the boxes on the T4 that would make me think it is).

I've been going in circles on this.  Anyone?

[TurboTaxSusan]

If you've entered an amount from any of the boxes on the slips listed here, you have what the CRA considers to be self-employment or business income:

• T4 slip: box 81, 82 or 83
• T4A slip: box 20 or 48
• T4A slip: box 28 and you answered Yes to the question Does the income declared in Box 028 consist of fees collected for services you provided? in TurboTax Online
• T3 slip: box 24 (foreign business income)

If you have an amount in any of these boxes, TurboTax will ask additional questions to report the income as self-employment/business income. You only need to answer basic information, such as business name and address (can be your own), industry code, and fiscal period (Jan 01 to December 31). 

If you are still not able to resolve this issue, please contact our phone support team at 1-888-829-8608.

[DaveVS]

So that’s the stock answer that was driving me bananas and no I didn’t have any of those fields entered anywhere.  I had already found that answer before posting; and it contributed to both my confusion and frustration.

Turns out two things happened that look confusing AF when you put them together.  1) I clicked on a box at the end of last year that said I was *thinking* about starting a business, and 2 the enhanced CPP deductions, while they say “(self-employed.)” on the line are actually for anyone, up to $460.25.  Plus searching for the text of  that line in google primarily produces information for self employed people.  It was, needless to say, the most frustrating year I’ve had using Turbotax.

I hope, in the 2023 version, there is more clarity added around the “self-employed” label & that those CPP deductions are allowed for everyone.