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:

Although the government has yet to announce the prescribed interest rates for the second quarter, the rate will not change.

Transacting with cryptocurrency can have tax implications. Did you keep track of those transactions and the fair market value of the money when you did? It’s an issue that will become important, and potentially messy, as you get ready to file your return this year. You may also have to correct prior year’s returns.   

It is no secret that CRA service levels have been under stress during the Pandemic. Many tax practitioners can confirm that a phone call that would normally have to wait for three to five minutes to be answered. At the peak of tax season could take one hour or more, not even including the dozens of dropped calls. Lately, response times have slowly decreased; however, it is still at unacceptable levels. As CRA shifts most of its services online through My Account, My Business Accounts, and Represent a Client one could think that there is less demand for phone calls. These services have also been compromised.

The Principal Residence Exemption: The Nuances is part of a three-part series explaining the principal residence exemption under Canadian taxation law. It begins with the tax consequences on the change in use of a principal residence. 

In the last election, the Liberal government promised that, after renovations to a building rent increases fall outside of a normal change in rent or are excessive in their view, they will implement a surtax on landlords.  It is interesting to think about the repercussions of such a proposed policy and to reflect on whether this the economic outcome that is truly desired, when our collective challenge is to invest in improving buildings for reasons of climate change and health care concerns?  Here are the details.

This doesn’t happen very often, but the result of our January Poll question which asked: “Do you think personal/corporate tax reforms can spur economic growth in Canada in 2022 and beyond?” were split right down the middle with 50% saying “yes” and 50% saying “no”. Why the mixed results from Canadian tax and financial professionals? Here’s what you had to say: