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:

The Underground Economy grew 3.8% between 2012 and 2013, but is considered “stable”  based on CRA’s June 20th revised estimate report for the period 1992-2013.  Still, it’s growing at the same rate as the GDP – 2.45% - and is estimated to be close to $46 Billion in size.  So who is skirting their tax obligations?

The month of June was a bad one for tax practitioners who have perpetrated fraud. Tax evasion can attract fines of up to 200% of the taxes avoided plus other administrative penalties, including gross negligence (50% of taxes owing) and late filing (up to 10% of unpaid amounts).

The changes to the CPP agreed upon this week by eight of Canada’s Finance Ministers (Quebec and Manitoba have not yet agreed), will help Canadians contemplate how much is enough for their retirement. To answer this question, it is important to first reflect on longevity statistics in Canada and, second, on the amount of money required for adequate income in retirement.

We love sharing feedback from our recent graduates. This week we feature the success of Mrs. Delores Moskal from Yorkton, Saskatchewan, who recently graduated from the Business Valuation for Advisors course.

Knowledge Bureau is pleased to announce that Craig Dowden, the top-rated speaker at DAC 2015, will speak at this year’s Distinguished Advisor Conference, Nov. 6-9 in San Diego. Early registration is now open until June 30. An outstanding agenda of 18 illustrious speakers has now been released.

The quest for highly qualified, professional bookkeepers with sharp tax knowledge and financial stewardship skills is an important one, yet they are hard to find.  Knowledge Bureau’s professional certification and designation programs fill that gap and add value to tax, bookkeeping and financial services offices.