Podcast: Automatic Tax Filing - Will It Work?

Last week Taxpayers' Ombudsperson François Boileau  tabled his annual report:  In Pursuit of Better Service: Taxpayers Deserve More.  once again, it was nothing short of scathing, as CRA received its highest number of complaints in the last three years.  Calling our “completely nuts” Income Tax Act a potential barrier, he is nonetheless pushing for automatic tax filing as a potential solution.  A new episode of Real Tax News with Evelyn Jacks & Friends available next week, will feature guest Gillian Petit, Ph.D. - author of a great report, Welcome News for Lower-Income Canadians, but There’s More to Do - which takes a deeper dive.  Consider the following:

Providing value to your clients: Andre Yong Tit Kow, DFA - Tax Services Specialist™, Ontario

“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality.”  Max DePree

The CRA has cancelled Information Circular IC98-1R5 and replaced it with a sixth version, which provides a new overview of CRA collections policies for individuals, corporations, GST registrants, employers and those who import or export or travel across borders. Advisors and clients will want to refresh on their obligations:

When can you claim the interest on investment loans? It’s a common question but the answer depends on the investment for which you are borrowing money. In order to claim the interest when you borrow money to invest, your loan must meet three criteria.

It was almost unanimous: 89% of responders to January’s Knowledge Bureau Report poll question agreed—the $30,000 cap on claiming luxury vehicles has long required a raise to reflect more accurately the price of cars this century. Here are the significant comments that accompanied the vote:

There are over 28 million tax filers and two-thirds of them pay income taxes, on average at a rate of 16% of total income. The vast majority of those taxes - 70% in fact - come from employees, whose earnings are subject to tax withholdings with every paycheque.