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 Income Tax Act and the Excise Tax Act allow the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to transfer the tax liability of a taxpayer onto third parties. There is a very distinct role for the tax and financial advisor in assisting their clients with this issue. This and more will be discussed at the upcoming Distinguished Advisor Workshop (DAW), with featured guest speakers in Vancouver Jan. 22 and Toronto Jan. 25.

From a tax and financial planner’s point of view, it is critical to know the mechanics of tax preparation as a prerequisite to tax-efficient financial planning. If you don’t know tax, you’re missing double digit returns in your plans for real wealth management with your clients.

Knowledge Bureau is pleased to announce that Intuit will join the January Personal Tax Update Workshop tour as a national sponsor. The topic of Scott Zandbergen’s keynote is End-to-End Online Practice Management: Your Firm of the Future. Scott will explain the remarkable changes happening in the tax accounting industry and what’s coming to integrate bookkeeping and taxation details.

Wealth Quotes from Family Tax Essentials.

Knowledge Bureau is pleased to announce that The Association of Professional Accounting & Tax Consultants Inc. (APATC) will join the January Personal Tax Update Workshop tour as a national sponsor.

Last year, Canadians both prepaid and overpaid their tax and the amount was significant: $148 a month or $1780 for the year, according to taxation statistics to January 4, 2016. That’s money given to the government on an interest-free basis all year long, and bad financial planning. Over a 40-year worklife, your tax overpayment would be worth $71,200 in capital that would not have been invested in the marketplace.