Wildfires: Apply for Taxpayer Relief Provisions

It may not be the first concern, but Canadians affected by wildfires may worry at some point about the tax consequences of lost records or missed filing deadlines – the next one on June 16 for those filing T1 returns with proprietorship income. Fortunately, the CRA offers Taxpayer Relief Provisions when there are circumstances beyond a taxpayer’s control, including natural disasters, serious illness or death in the family, or errors made by the CRA, which may trigger penalties and interest due to late or incomplete tax filings. Here’s what you need to know.

Now is the right time to consider a career in professional bookkeeping, as small business owners in Canada need your help to navigate the repercussions of the pandemic and its fallout. Meet the high demand for qualified practitioners to take the burden of bookkeeping and CRA remittances off their shoulders. Become a credentialled bookkeeping services specialist.

The federal government has changed its mind: at least some of the self-employed people who received the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) based on erroneous instructions from CRA no longer have to repay the benefits. But the heavy audit response following the pandemic emergency provisions has resulted in a tax quagmire for many. Tax specialists can help.

Kudos to the CRA. They may just have heard your feedback on our January poll where the vast majority of advisors suggested that the CRA should cut people some slack.  Yesterday they did, with the announcement that interest relief would be available for taxpayers who made under $75,000 and received pandemic support benefits in 2020. There is more good news, too, for refundable tax credit recipients.

It appears that $2 a day adds up to millions of dollars in tax costs for the government.  The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) released the costs of the new simplified home workspace expenses on February 4, now estimated at $260 million. The costing provides some interesting insight on expense filing by employees.

The CRA has introduced several new rules for filing employment expenses in 2020 which in reality, have complicated rather than simplified, employment deduction claims. Four employment filing profiles have emerged, as well as a new little-known calculation for home office space common area use. Details and a tip sheet follow.

Tax is a trigger for affluent families, especially now, when higher taxes may loom in the future. Tax and financial advisors ultimately need to be able to expertly calculate capital gains and losses on the disposition of assets and properly report income transactions along the way. But, it is in the planning for tax efficiency that differentiates a “great” advisor from the rest. This newly updated course is here to provide help during these turbulent times.