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:

The capital gains inclusion rate changes have invoke wide-spread concern about the best ways to preserve assets built over a lifetime to fund retirements and pass down important real estate and business interests. These tax changes will indeed cost average households significantly more money when they dispose of the assets that form the cornerstones of their net worth.  Advisors have an important role to play in ensuring that the June 25 trigger date for the higher inclusion rates will not unduly upset retirement and estate plans.  Here are five things that can be done:

Please join the Society of Real Wealth Managers Meeting of the Minds to learn about the benefits of professional collaboration to enhance your value proposition, and how you can build your own Real Wealth Management office of the future on June 5 at 10 am CT. Save the date for this complimentary live, virtual event, and save $500 on program tuition when you enrol in the Real Wealth Manager Program by May 31.

The Acuity Conference for Distinguished Advisors (DAC) takes place November 10-12 in Montreal, Quebec and we are pleased to welcome the thought leadership of many returning education partners to the stage. These speakers are ready to wow the highly-engaged audience at the only multi-disciplinary conference for professionals in the tax, accounting and financial services. Please join us in thanking these organizations for contributing their thought leadership to this year’s event, and be sure to sign on as a delegate or partner by the June 30 early-bird deadline. Stay tuned as more details, including a comprehensive conference agenda, are coming soon!

A new Purpose-Built Rental Housing Rebate (PBRHR) is now available for landlords and builders of new or substantially renovated buildings being converted to residential rental units specifically to house students, seniors and apartment dwellers.  The federal government will refund 100% of the GST and federal portion of the HST.  Notably there is no $450,000 fair market value limit on the housing units, as required under existing GST/HST rebate rules.  However, the application process is still not set in stone.

Are you making full use of the tax advantages available by investing in a Spousal RRSP?  It’s a legitimate way to get a lucrative tax deduction in 2024, defer tax on income earned in the registered account, split income in retirement and in many cases, avoid clawbacks of income-tested benefits and credits.  Yet the simple strategy of using a Spousal RRSP for all these benefits is often missed.  Here are the basic parameters to share with your clients, who may wish to start by investing their tax refund.

The Boomers had long dubbed been dubbed the “sandwich generation”.  But increasingly, Gen X and Gen Y are embracing the reality of multi-generational caregiving.  University age children are still living at home well into their 20s – even 30’s.  Elder family members have also thrived with caregiving by family members.  With the affordability crisis, family life is redefining itself in Canada.  That’s why tax and government assistance available for multi-gen family life is an important and hot topic. The last few federal budgets, including April 16, 2024 have promoted the trend to build secondary suites for these purposes with some tax breaks.  Consider the following: