Time’s Up: CRA’s 100 Day Mandate for Improvement

After years of frustration on the part of tax professionals and taxpayers alike, the Finance Minister ordered the Canada Revenue Agency to clean up its act in 100 days. Specifically, the improvement plan was to run from September 2 through December 11. Finance Minister and Minister of National Revenue, Francoise-Phillippe Champagne instructed CRA to fix “unacceptable wait times and service delays.” Time’s up this week and CRA has released an update on progress. What gets measured, gets done. Let’s see what CRA’s metrics show. 

Today’s professional tax and financial advisors work within a changing environment in which clients are more willing to pay for knowledge and interpretation.  Highly informed clients, especially Millennials and their retiring parents, demand an expanded knowledge base in the value proposition they are willing to pay for.

“Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.” Indian Proverb

Knowledge is power, but education is expensive. What are the funding options? Join us in this first of a series to sort it all out.  Bottom line:  it depends on who you are and where you live.  Our veterans, for example, have just had the lovely news that up to four years of free education at a post-secondary school may be possible.

CRA has provided an update to its audit position on campgrounds and the use of the Small Business Deduction when there are fewer than five full time employees.  The degree to which significant additional services are “integral to the success of its business operations” will make the difference for campgrounds which do a bit of both:  in fact the more services provided, the better the chances that the SBD may be allowed.

Knowledge Bureau’s August opinion poll is asking an important question about education funding and our readers are providing some thoughtful and vibrant answers; that’s why the poll results appear to be coming in neck and neck. What do you think?

Who knew Canadians are this adventuresome?  Last week, CBC reported that close to 4000 people -  most of them men – applied for one of two positions to be blasted into space.   If any life event change speaks to the need for immediate tax, estate and family wealth planning, this would be it!