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:

Many Canadians have properties in the U.S. and regularly spend time there. Unfortunately, many of them also tend to take an “ostrich” approach to the related tax issues. That can be very expensive in the long run. If you are a tax or financial advisor serving snowbirds or other clients with U.S. assets, it is imperative to take a proactive approach to protect their wealth from the tax consequences in multiple jurisdictions.

Income earned by an estate during any tax year must be reported as a T3 return. Knowledge Bureau’s new T3 Basic Tax Preparation course will help students learn who should file a T3 return, as well as when and how best to file it. The course also introduces the types of trusts that may be created in Canada and how each of them is taxed.

Have you marked your calendar yet to attend the fourteenth Annual Distinguished Advisor Conference (DAC)? With the Canadian dollar being so low, there never has been a better time to jet off to British Columbia than now. And that’s especially important when you’re looking to stretch your professional development budget.

Add value to your career with the MFA-Business Services Specialist designation, like Johnson Obayuwana from Regina, SK.

Students and their parents will be looking for new ways to fund post-secondary education this year, as tax relief has been significantly curtailed with the removal of the monthly education and textbook amounts.

On May 5, the Finance Department issued a Notice of Ways and Means Motion to change income reporting rules specifically for farmers and fishers who sell to agricultural and fisheries cooperatives, in response to restrictions in the March 2016 budget that impact the claiming of the small business deduction.