Time’s Up: CRA’s 100 Day Mandate for Improvement

After years of frustration on the part of tax professionals and taxpayers alike, the Finance Minister ordered the Canada Revenue Agency to clean up its act in 100 days. Specifically, the improvement plan was to run from September 2 through December 11. Finance Minister and Minister of National Revenue, Francoise-Phillippe Champagne instructed CRA to fix “unacceptable wait times and service delays.” Time’s up this week and CRA has released an update on progress. What gets measured, gets done. Let’s see what CRA’s metrics show. 

Increase your knowledge and value proposition with DFA - Tax Services Specialist™ designation—Chad Kruger, Alberta

Student loan indebtedness is a burden that often haunts graduates for many years after they have completed their post-secondary education. According to a Statistics Canada report from 2012, the average university student’s debt is $21,700. Fortunately, there is some relief on the tax return.

This is the second in the Provincial Budget Roundup series. This week, we present a brief summary of the tax provisions from the western and prairie provinces:

Are you thinking about retiring soon?  One important consideration in this process is whether you should start your Canada Pension Plan benefits early or late. Now that tax season is over for most people (proprietors have until June 15 to file their returns), this is a question tax specialists and their pre-retiring clients should be discussing sooner rather than later. In fact, anticipating the after-tax consequences of this decision can help spur on broader retirement planning activities.

Jackie Porter, CFP, co-author of Single by Choice or Chance: The Smart Women’s Guide to Living Longer Better has some useful advice for women over forty who find themselves single after an unexpected life change:

With the pressure of tax season over for all but the remaining proprietorship returns (due midnight June 15), it’s a great time to debrief about the skills that were required this tax season and how to shore them up for the next.