Investigative Tax Prep:  Top Ten Changes to Probe

Tax season 2025 has started with a focus on the increased income levels some taxpayers may report due to proposed changes in capital gains tax laws.  But aside from this there are new questions to probe with clients to ensure the family’s tax returns are filed to their very best benefit, given change in their life and financial events as well.  Here are top 10 queries to add to your interview checklist:

Mark Your Calendar for the weekend of November 9-12.  You’re going to be in for an incredible networking experience, and a 15 session, impactful Education Conference tailored for tax specialists and wealth advisors.  Most important, 20 thought leaders will inspire you to re-engage with your prospective clients who sadly, may not be seeking your advice soon enough.   It’s the Acuity Conference for Distinguished Advisors (DAC) and the full agenda is now here! Register by September 30 early-bird deadline – Ask about group rates, how to buy a table and access to VIP Affinity Program rates.  Here’s the run of the events:

The tax filing season 2024 is officially over with 31,247,787 tax returns filed to July 1.  The average balance due is $7,572 or over $55 Billion and many of those 7.3 Million taxpayers who owe are proprietors who waited to file until the last moment:  June 17.  We asked tax and financial professionals in our June poll whether they thought that tax audit risk is a bigger issue now for proprietors.  The reviews were mixed but 60% said yes. 

It’s not just the newly increased capital gains inclusion rate that is now law, but another significant tax change which has received less fanfare – the AMT or Alternative Minimum Tax – has now been passed into law under Bill C-59, passed on June 20, 2024.  The provision in effective, however, on January 1, 2024.  The big issue is that the AMT can affect the very people grappling with the capital gains inclusion rate increases.  The result is more retroactivity and more complexity.   Here’s what you need to know:

One interesting and potentially beneficial financial strategy to grow the family’s wealth is to draw up an interspousal loan.  With interest rates set to come down again, and capital gains rates going up, the plan may have more appeal that it has over the high interest rate era we have seen post pandemic. Here’s how the plan – perfectly allowable under the Income Tax Act – works, and some of the benefits:

OAS Rates Rise; Prescribed Rates Don’t.  That’s just some of the important news you’ll want to share before heading out for the July long weekend! Check out the Tax and Tax Training Milestone to mark on your summer calendar before you head off on your July holidays!    Seniors note – you’ll get a small raise. based on changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), OAS benefits will increase by 0.7% for the July to September 2024 quarter, for an increase of 2.8% over the past year, from July 2023 to July 2024. Happy Canada Day!

We invite you to connect with Canada’s brightest and 16 of the most accomplished thought leaders in the tax, accounting and financial services industry at the 2024 Acuity Conference for Distinguished Advisors in Montreal November 10-12.  Join us to celebrate, meet and honour your peers from coast-to-coast at the Knowledge Bureau Awards Ceremony on November 10. Check out the detailed online conference agenda designed to help you discover new ways to lead with impactful guidance.