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 we reported in our last KBR, the new Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) was extended to include 9 Periods, but this extension brings some mind-numbing complexity with it.  Businesses can apply for the subsidy starting on Monday, August 17 for Period 5, which began on July 5 and runs to August 1. CRA has also developed a CEWS calculator and spreadsheet to help make the claim.  Here are the highlights of how it works:

Payroll is a lot more complicated to calculate when employers offer perks to their employees.  But these taxable and tax-free benefits, which can include reimbursement of housing losses and interest-free loans or parking costs, can make it more attractive for employees to sign on and stay. For example, did you know…?

Did you know you can go back 3 years to optimize pension income splitting?  You have up to three years to elect to split pension income, or to amend an election.  With the effective due date for the 2019 return being September 30, 2020, one might think that the 2016 election could be amended up to the end of September 2020, but that’s not the case.  Changes to the 2016 election had to be made by May 2, 2020 (three years after the due date for the 2016 return).  However, changes to the election for 2017, 2018, and 2019 may still be made.

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The federal government announced Monday that tax filing and payment deadlines have been informally extended once again, this time until September 30. Though the deadline officially listed remains as June, no late filing penalties or interest will be charged provided the new September 30 deadline is met.  However, tax credit or benefit recipients should file as soon as possible to avoid interruptions in payments.

On Monday, July 27 a couple of highly anticipated pandemic support measures were passed into law: the changes to the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) for Period 5 forward and the one-time payments to disabled persons. This latter provision extended the tax-free disability payment to two categories of recipients who will not require a Disability Tax Credit to receive it.