CRA’s Callback Service for Tax Pros Pilot
Are you a tax professional with years of experience? Have you ever felt frustrated after calling the CRA, having spent hours on hold, wasting your client’s or employer’s time, only to speak to CRA agents who aren’t qualified to answer your questions? The Auditor General of Canada was equally displeased in a scathing report last fall on wait times and accuracy levels at the CRA. Now a new CRA callback service may come to the rescue this tax season. Here is my experience with the pilot project so far:Climate Action Incentive (CAI) – Gas Cost Relief Coming July 15
Planning a vacation with the kids in July? If you live in Manitoba, Ontario, Alberta or Saskatchewan, CRA will be sending you some gas money soon via the Climate Action Incentive – hundreds of dollars in fact - but only if you filed a 2021 tax return. It’s not too late to get in on this and other social benefits that are paid after June 30; a quagmire of must-know tax info, your tax specialist can help you with before the holidays start. Some details follow:
Assignment Sales: New GST/HST Rules
Do you know of anyone who has assigned the purchase of a home to another person before moving into it? Perhaps you know of an investor in a new condo complex, who has put down a deposit with the hope of engaging a third party once the condo is built and the price goes up. If so, be sure they know about new tax rules for such “speculative sales”, which will render this type of transaction to GST/HST effective May 7, 2022, and could eliminate rights to capital gains treatment as well.
Tax Freedom Day in Canada: June 15, 2022
This year, Tax Freedom Day for Canadians fell on June 15, 2022, which is four days later than last year, and almost a full two months later than the US hit the same milestone. That means when you add tax and inflation together, Canadians have a more compelling financial issue than our neighbours to the South. For those reasons, working with tax and financial advisors is critical as there are many opportunities to save money on taxes and benefit from generous tax credits here in Canada. Professionals can make sure Canadians don’t miss out in these expensive times.
