Helping First Nations, Inuit and Metis with Tax Filing

The Canada Revenue Agency is trying to reach out to Canada’s First Nations, Inuit and Metis to encourage them to file their tax forms on time and could use your help to make sure these communities get all the tax benefits they are entitled to. But filing tax returns are not always easy, especially when there is income on and off the reserve.

"If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door." Milton Berle

Unincorporated business owners can avoid late filing penalties by filing their taxes before midnight June 15. However, if you owe money to CRA, you must pay by midnight May 2 to avoid interest charges.

Saul lost his job and was not able to keep up with his required support payments to his estranged family. He was required to pay $500 per month in spousal support and $1,000 per month in child support. He did not begin to know how to claim his arrears payments on his tax return. Fortunately his Tax Services Specialist could help.

Old Age Security (OAS) and the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) are indexed quarterly. However, the indexation factor for these purposes for the second quarter—April to June 2016—is nil so there will be no raise in the monthly benefit amount for that period. But that doesn’t mean consumer spending didn’t cost more last quarter, as reported by Statistics Canada, especially for food, alcohol and tobacco.

As government budgets close one tax advantage after another, it pays to do some tax planning now as you complete your 2015 tax return. Tax time is a great time to prepare a financial assessment through a sound interview process with your advisors. That’s because it’s a great opportunity to review financial affairs of the family as a whole.

Cecil Baldry-White, CEO of Alitis Investment Counsel, believes there are six major challenges that wealth advisors face in attaining higher returns and longer term performance for their clients in today’s difficult investment environment, and he believes we must meet these challenges head on.