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:

It’s your last chance to participate in Knowledge Bureau’s trivia contest,

Darren Ryan, an insurance and financial services professional in St. John’s, NL, shares his thoughts about attending last year’s Distinguished Advisor Conference

CRA is proposing changes to its Voluntary Disclosure Program (VDP). In response, Knowledge Bureau submitted the following comments for government review in advance of the August 8, 2017, consultation deadline: 

Renting out the basement, or even just a room, in one’s home has long been a great way to tap into an additional stream of income to improve cash flow, enhance savings or reduce debt.

If your clients own assets abroad, they must submit Form T1135 Foreign Income Verification Statement to CRA to disclose whether they had “specified foreign assets” held during the year, if the total cost at any time exceeded $100,000 Canadian. 

New provincial rules were finalized earlier this month governing the use of Pooled Retirement Pension Plans in Manitoba.