Back to School Tax Breaks
Like tax season, back-to-school season rolls around annually with certainty. But in today’s inflationary environment, the start-up costs for getting the family organizing for the school year may seem daunting. The good news is that tax and financial advisors can help clients understand their tax planning options and manage all the receipts that can lead to tax breaks later in the spring during tax filing time. Here’s a primer of topics you may wish to discuss:Building Better Businesses Starts with the Ability to Scale
Do you know the biggest risk that a mature tax or financial services business faces? Complacency! For new business ventures, the risks are different: it’s the inability to deal with increasing capacity. If you find yourself in either of these scenarios, knowing how to scale your business to new heights could solve the problem. In this case, the DMA-Small Business Services Specialist Program is for you. Consider the following:
CRA’s Callback Service for Tax Pros Pilot
Are you a tax professional with years of experience? Have you ever felt frustrated after calling the CRA, having spent hours on hold, wasting your client’s or employer’s time, only to speak to CRA agents who aren’t qualified to answer your questions? The Auditor General of Canada was equally displeased in a scathing report last fall on wait times and accuracy levels at the CRA. Now a new CRA callback service may come to the rescue this tax season. Here is my experience with the pilot project so far:
Tax Evasion: A Criminal Case to Consider
Tax practitioners may be confronted by taxpayers looking to cheat the system. That’s a problem, and you need to identify the circumstances swiftly. You need to make certain clients you work with don’t break tax laws and that you don’t either. You also want to share information about any potential penalties or conflicts with the Canada Revenue Agency. Under the Criminal Code the penalties for tax evasion can be severe and while jail time for tax cheats is relatively rare, it does happen. We have just such a case to report on, which the CRA published in February.
New Brunswick Budget 2026-27
When we speak of government debt, we are generally referring to the level of debt racked up by our federal government. However, our provincial governments are also piling up debt for future generations. On March 17, 2026 – St. Patrick’s Day - New Brunswick has joined B.C. Alberta, Nova Scotia and the Territories on the deficit bandwagon. Yet at least a bit of the “luck of the Irish” was in store for taxpayers and businesses in New Brunswick.
DAC Acuity 2026: Victoria, B.C.’s Inner Harbour is The Gorgeous Destination
The 2026 Acuity Conference for Distinguished Advisors (DAC) will take place November 22–24 at the Delta Hotels by Marriott Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort, a premier waterfront venue overlooking Victoria’s Inner Harbour and the iconic Legislative Building. It’s an ideal backdrop for this year’s theme, The North Star: Strategic Direction & Value Reflection. Team member and early bird specials apply now. Check out all the benefits below and the registration details at learn.knowledgebureau.com/acuity.
Financial Advisors’ Succession: It’s About The “Critical Middle”
Buying books of business – chocked full of existing client portfolios - has been the favored way to grow as it represents, a turnkey solution to get into a market quickly with established cash flow as opposed to building a business from the ground floor up. Ultimately, however, this is only a short term win. Keeping those clients and building upon the goodwill requires business smarts: the skills to scale a business by expanding capacity. That’s why you should attend:
