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. 

The CRA has cancelled Information Circular IC98-1R5 and replaced it with a sixth version, which provides a new overview of CRA collections policies for individuals, corporations, GST registrants, employers and those who import or export or travel across borders. Advisors and clients will want to refresh on their obligations:

When can you claim the interest on investment loans? It’s a common question but the answer depends on the investment for which you are borrowing money. In order to claim the interest when you borrow money to invest, your loan must meet three criteria.

It was almost unanimous: 89% of responders to January’s Knowledge Bureau Report poll question agreed—the $30,000 cap on claiming luxury vehicles has long required a raise to reflect more accurately the price of cars this century. Here are the significant comments that accompanied the vote:

There are over 28 million tax filers and two-thirds of them pay income taxes, on average at a rate of 16% of total income. The vast majority of those taxes - 70% in fact - come from employees, whose earnings are subject to tax withholdings with every paycheque.

According to Industry Canada, as of December 2012, there were nearly 1.2 million small businesses in Canada (businesses with at least one employee on payroll). But many don’t make it—even though they were profitable at the time of closure. Tax and business services specialists can help these businesses survive.

After an eventful two weeks in global politics and economics, the theme for the 2017 Distinguished Advisor Conference (DAC) appears to be squarely on point: Financial Advice at the Crossroads of Change.