Podcast: Automatic Tax Filing - Will It Work?

Last week Taxpayers' Ombudsperson François Boileau  tabled his annual report:  In Pursuit of Better Service: Taxpayers Deserve More.  once again, it was nothing short of scathing, as CRA received its highest number of complaints in the last three years.  Calling our “completely nuts” Income Tax Act a potential barrier, he is nonetheless pushing for automatic tax filing as a potential solution.  A new episode of Real Tax News with Evelyn Jacks & Friends available next week, will feature guest Gillian Petit, Ph.D. - author of a great report, Welcome News for Lower-Income Canadians, but There’s More to Do - which takes a deeper dive.  Consider the following:

In the CRA’s crackdown on sophisticated or aggressive tax avoidance schemes, convictions are routinely listed on the agency’s website for all to see. But public shaming is the least of the consequences lawbreakers will have to face. Stiff fines and penalties are a much bigger issue.

A recent Globe and Mail article cites a Royal Bank report in which 46% of Canadians over 55 felt they weren’t saving enough for retirement. Worse still, 31% of Canadians hadn’t started saving for retirement yet. This is an opportunity that tax and financial advisors can help with. Tax refunds coming back now can be a great trigger for the question: how tax efficient will your retirement income be?

“Be curious. Enjoy the process. Marvel at life and its richness as you go along.” — Dr. Susan Biali, M.D.

How cash-strapped are your clients, really? Tax and financial advisors need to make that question a priority to really help younger clients before times get tougher for some. The Canadian Press, for example, recently reported about a survey by Manulife in which they found that “nearly three quarters of Canadian homeowners…would have difficulty paying their mortgage if their payments were to increase by more than 10 per cent.”

"Best DAW yet!" The spring Distinguished Advisor Workshops (DAW) started this week in Vancouver to great fanfare by our attendees. Here’s what some had to say:

Over the past fourteen years, the Distinguished Advisor Conference (DAC) has established its reputation as the most comprehensive and strategic educational conference available to tax and financial advisors. Experts and visionaries from all sides of the financial services industry offer their wisdom on how you can sharpen strategic and technical skills required to best serve your clients in this time of significant change.