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. 

As DAC 2016 wraps up in beautiful San Diego, CA, we are excited to announce the site of the 2017 DAC:  beautiful Kelowna, BC, where we will celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday November 5-8.  Reserve now at special pre-conference early bird rates.

Largely due to advances in preventing heart disease and with Baby Boomers leading healthier lifestyles, Canadians who reach age 65 are more likely than ever to live into their 90's.  This takes retirement income planning into a much longer period, in which a focus on continued accumulation and investing is as important as tax-efficient withdrawal of funds.  Capital must be preserved at the same time.

"You learn far more from negative leadership than from positive leadership. Because you learn how not to do it. And, therefore, you learn how to do it."  Norman Schwarzkopf

Year end is a great time to re-engage clients in conversation about financial decision-making, especially for clients with offshore assets who may need to report some of them on Form T1135 Foreign Income Verification.

For several years now, the prescribed interest rate applied to spousal loans has been set at 1%, but that could change if interest rates rise in 2017. Are you taking advantage of the opportunity to transfer capital to a spouse with a bona fide loan at the current low interest rate?

Knowledge Bureau Report’s monthly poll for October asked: “In your opinion is the new Canada Child Benefit (CCB) better than the combo of UCCB, Child Tax Benefit and Family Tax Cut?”  The results were almost evenly split: 52% voted yes and 48% voted no.