CRA’s Callback Service for Tax Pros Pilot

Are you a tax professional with years of experience? Have you ever felt frustrated after calling the CRA, having spent hours on hold, wasting your client’s or employer’s time, only to speak to CRA agents who aren’t qualified to answer your questions? The Auditor General of Canada was equally displeased in a scathing report last fall on wait times and accuracy levels at the CRA. Now a new CRA callback service may come to the rescue this tax season. Here is my experience with the pilot project so far:

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