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:

February promises to go out like a lion with yesterday’s announcement that the 2018 budget will be unveiled on February 27, 2018. It’s interesting timing. Other important milestones: CRA starts processing 2017 tax returns on February 26, the T4/T5 tax slip deadline is on February 28 and the RRSP filing deadline is March 1.

Love this tax tip: all income sources are not taxable. Here’s my top 10 favorite “dark horses” – exempt amounts most people don’t know about.

Filing a tax return is the first, and often most important, financial transaction of the year for millions of Canadians. What’s different in 2018? For starters, the government is hanging on to early filers’ refunds longer than ever. With last year’s average tax refund clocking in at just over $1,735, that’s a big deposit that cash-strapped Canadians don’t have for their RRSP or TFSA deposit.

The verdict is out on non-compliant taxpayers: 87% of Knowledge Bureau readers gave a big thumbs down on putting themselves at risk by tolerating bad behaviors by taxpayers. Given the changes to the Voluntary Disclosures Program, starting March 1, 2018, so has the CRA.

What is the future of human work when robos are coming on so strongly?  Studies show that lifelong learning is essential for personal and professional development and in fact, that university students need to be ready to “re-skill” the moment they graduate. This from The Future of Jobs report, published by the World Economic Forum.

Small business owners are taking note: small business tax reforms are here to stay, the news is not good, and they are not happy about it. In fact, some are taking drastic actions, at the peril of Canada’s local economies.