CRA Data Breeches Put Taxpayer Information at Risk

An important deadline is coming up, around the same time that Canadians get ready to file their 2026 tax returns at the start of tax season 2027. Since 2020, more than 42,000 data breaches have occurred at the CRA. A class action lawsuit was launched in 2020 and a $8.76 million settlement was reached.  Eligible Canadians affected by these security incidents can now submit claims through the KPMG Claims Portal until February 3, 2027.  

Losing a job—especially unexpectedly—can be a difficult life event. You should know how to keep as much as possible of a lump sum that might come your way. The taxes on this lifeline can rob you of precious resources while you look for new work or arrange for your retirement income. There are also investment planning decisions to be made.

If you were subject to the OAS clawback on your 2015 tax return, your OAS cheques starting July 2016 will each be reduced by 1/12th of that clawback amount. But there is a way to reduce the recovery tax and increase your monthly OAS cheque.

A bright spot in economic news:  farmers are thriving!  Farming is no easy way to make a living, subject as it is to the whims of weather, disease, currency fluctuations, and more. So it’s good to hear from a Statistics Canada report published on May 25, 2016, that Canadian farmers are doing better than one might think.

When a depreciable asset is disposed of and the result is a negative balance in the CCA class, that negative balance is normally included in the taxpayer’s income (as recapture of CCA) in the year of disposition.

Planning for retirement is an old issue, but now there’s a new take on it: pre-retirement planning.  In the past, the focus was on how much pension income was needed to replace actively earned income from employment, to live comfortably until death. But these days retirement is anything but traditional and with employer pensions on the decline, especially defined benefit plans, many other factors must be taken into account when planning for life after work.

In today’s tax and economic climate, multi-generational planning faces new risks and  understanding the opportunities in the management of corporate investments is a huge issue. Uncover the latent potential in these resources for investment and retirement planning by joining John Natale, AVP Tax, Retirement & Estate Planning Services, at DAC this November 6 – 9 in San Diego.