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:

This is the second in the Provincial Budget Roundup series. This week, we present a brief summary of the tax provisions from the western and prairie provinces:

Are you thinking about retiring soon?  One important consideration in this process is whether you should start your Canada Pension Plan benefits early or late. Now that tax season is over for most people (proprietors have until June 15 to file their returns), this is a question tax specialists and their pre-retiring clients should be discussing sooner rather than later. In fact, anticipating the after-tax consequences of this decision can help spur on broader retirement planning activities.

Jackie Porter, CFP, co-author of Single by Choice or Chance: The Smart Women’s Guide to Living Longer Better has some useful advice for women over forty who find themselves single after an unexpected life change:

With the pressure of tax season over for all but the remaining proprietorship returns (due midnight June 15), it’s a great time to debrief about the skills that were required this tax season and how to shore them up for the next.

What are the top five reasons why busy people make time to attend conferences, just when they think they can least afford the time? You might be surprised by some of the reasons that people give us for attending the Distinguished Advisor Conference (DAC).

The federal budget has put an emphasis on positioning Canada for success in the innovation economy of tomorrow. However, an emerging issue for most professional advisors is what to do about the emphasis CRA has on the reporting of offshore assets and the perceived loopholes private business owners have.  Those are the two critical subjects in this month’s Distinguished Advisor Workshop tour.