Downsizing Your CRA Tax Files?

Happy New Year! If one of your resolutions for 2026 is to downsize, or at least sort through all that stuff you don’t need anymore, you may inevitably run across those tax files you’ve been keeping for decades. Just how long do you have to keep them? Do you need permission to destroy them? From whom? Read on to learn more. 

Jan Sawchuk, of Peachland, B.C., on the Basic Bookkeeping for Small Businesses course

With the looming Oct. 2 deadline for commentary on proposed tax changes to private corporations, the business community is renewing its call for the federal government to scrap the proposals in favour of a comprehensive tax policy review.

More than 65 per cent of Canada’s 14 million households contributed to at least one registered savings account (RPP, RRSP or TFSA) in 2015, according to recently released Statistics Canada data from the 2016 Census.

Nearly four in 10 (38 per cent) Canadians age 55 or older — and 14 per cent of those 65 or older — participated in the labour force last year, the highest participation rates among older Canadians since the collection of comparable Statistics Canada data began in 1976. But who exactly are these stalwart workers, and at what age are they retiring?

Costs incurred to attend a conference may be a deductible business expense. The cost of the tuition for the conference may also be deductible or be eligible for a non-refundable tax credit.

“Everyone is a genius at least once a year. The real geniuses simply have their bright ideas closer together.” —Georg Christoph Lichtenberg