Time’s Up: CRA’s 100 Day Mandate for Improvement

After years of frustration on the part of tax professionals and taxpayers alike, the Finance Minister ordered the Canada Revenue Agency to clean up its act in 100 days. Specifically, the improvement plan was to run from September 2 through December 11. Finance Minister and Minister of National Revenue, Francoise-Phillippe Champagne instructed CRA to fix “unacceptable wait times and service delays.” Time’s up this week and CRA has released an update on progress. What gets measured, gets done. Let’s see what CRA’s metrics show. 

Now is the time train new and returning employees for the upcoming tax season...did you know your training costs qualify for grants and funding? That includes those incurred through a Knowledge Bureau education.There are both granting and funding options available when you need to train staff in a hurry based on where you live.  Here are the details.

The investors of the Crocus Fund will be receiving a final settlement in 2022.  Specifically, the payment will be 36 cents per share, and it will be made after September 30, 2022.  While most people will have held these shares in their RRSP account and will have no tax consequences, the disposition of these investments in non-registered accounts will need to be reported.

The Liberal government has proposed that the CPP survivors’ benefit be raised by 25%.  It’s an important step in the right direction, but it may not be enough to fairly represent the lost contributions from a lifetime of mandatory contributions by a deceased spouse.  This requires review and here’s why:

According to a recent ISPOS survey on behalf of the Institute of Actuaries, 23% of working Canadians say that the pandemic will change the timeline of their planned retirement. They feel they’ll need to work longer to earn enough to retirement, and yet, still only 52% of working Canadians think they’ll be able to live comfortably once they do retire. What needs to be considered in retirement planning to address the new demands of the pandemic, along the increasing life expectancy in Canada, and the increase in workers age 65+ in the workforce?

Although the government has yet to announce the prescribed interest rates for the second quarter, the rate will not change.

Transacting with cryptocurrency can have tax implications. Did you keep track of those transactions and the fair market value of the money when you did? It’s an issue that will become important, and potentially messy, as you get ready to file your return this year. You may also have to correct prior year’s returns.