Canada Needs a Financial Plan

According to a July 23 publication by the Fraser Institute, we are getting poorer here in Canada and the prospects for economic growth are looking grim.  This should be of concern to every Canadian concerned about their “real income” – that’s their purchasing power – and by extension - their ability to fund consumption now and for important family milestones in the future:  retirements, education and homeownership.  It’s grim, but there are practical suggestions for a turn around plan. Here’s a synopsis of the report.   

The CRA has been provided funding of $79 million over a five-year period, and $15 million on an ongoing basis, to support the development of an electronic platform for processing T3 returns. The goal: to address the government’s concerns about “significant gaps” in trust filing. By the year 2021, there will be new requirements for filing trust returns, and advisors in tax and financial services will need to come up to speed on this issue.

Returns that include income from rental properties are often audited, so, it’s important to consider your increased tax compliance burden as a real estate investor. If this is your first year with a rental property, it’s especially important to set up the tax reporting and documentation properly for an audit-proof experience. Use this checklist to help:

Between February 12, 2018 and January 6, 2019, only 13.1% of all tax returns (totaling 3.9 million) were paper-filed. With the vast majority of Canadians now filing electronically, we asked Knowledge Bureau Report readers whether paper-filing should be continued. A resounding 89% of respondents said “yes.”  Here’s why:

New data shows that younger generations face a higher tax burden than the generations before them. In addition, they anticipate having to fund a higher proportion of their retirement with personal savings, as few will have pensions or inheritances to fall back on. They will need help from highly trained Real Wealth Managers who understand their fiscal plight and are willing to build long term relationships.

Like many industries today, the bookkeeping, tax filing and financial services are undergoing a major transformation. A key issue that’s emerging: the control of private financial data and after-tax results in a digital world. Highly-trained specialists, can bring big value as financial intermediaries and risk managers for their clients who are concerned about control of their financial records.

Family businesses are facing the most explosive challenge in a generation.  A new book by Jenifer Bartman and Evelyn Jacks addresses the challenge head on, and explains how advisors and their clients who are business leaders can defuse this potential time bomb: late succession planning.  Advisors can also shore up their professional skills by studying the problem in depth in a new certificate course from Knowledge Bureau.