Changes to Paper Filing Disempowering

Last tax season, only 7% of all Canadian tax filers filed on paper. The CRA is pushing for zero. It continues to steer the holdouts to digitized filing by adding lots of obstacles. Most recently, it is removing almost all the schedules from the tax return package it mails. This seems unfair to people who paper file because they can’t afford a computer and internet, distrust the security of online filing and those who are neither tax or computer literate. Here’s what they are up against:

As tax season picks up speed, there are some important dates and deadlines coming up to make note of and discuss with your clients.

Privacy of confidential financial data is an important issue to your clients and no wonder: Statistics Canada says that about 57% of Canadians online reported experiencing a security incident in 2018.  Do you know how to avoid privacy risks that may arise in your business?  A new online certificate course, Privacy Principles in Business addresses many of the security issues that concern business owners these days, and now you can earn 10 compliance credits from IIROC by completing this cutting-edge course.

There is an important deadline coming up for those who received a reprieve on their 2020 outstanding balances: interest will accrue on that balance starting May 1, 2022. Who does this deadline apply to?

Last summer, the government announced a new temporary supplement for families with children under the age of 6 entitled to the CCB: The Canada Child Benefit Young Child Supplement. Those who have not tapped into this program and had eligible children in 2021 still have until the end of 2023 to become eligible for the CCBYCS payments. That means that they must have applied for the Canada Child Benefit and filed their 2019 and 2020 return by that deadline.

The short answer is yes, employees can write off the cost of hiring an assistant if required to perform their employment duties, as verified by their contract of employment and a signed form T2200 Declaration of Employment Conditions by the employer.  Here are the details you need to know:

Budget 2022 proposes to provide an additional $1,200 million over five years, starting in 2022-2023 to increase both the investigation and prosecution of entities committing tax evasion. The additional funding will increase CRA’s efficiency and ability to combat tax evasion, which is something it already takes very seriously according to recent examples.