Changes to Paper Filing Disempowering

Last tax season, only 7% of all Canadian tax filers filed on paper. The CRA is pushing for zero. It continues to steer the holdouts to digitized filing by adding lots of obstacles. Most recently, it is removing almost all the schedules from the tax return package it mails. This seems unfair to people who paper file because they can’t afford a computer and internet, distrust the security of online filing and those who are neither tax or computer literate. Here’s what they are up against:

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) recently extradited a tax preparer back to Canada from Italy and put her into custody to serve a 10-year sentence for tax fraud after she claimed $58 million in false carrying charges and charitable donations on over 4,000 returns.

Many of us are blessed to have older family members enriching our lives, but they often require a significant amount of care, and their caregivers can, in turn, require more help. At a time when politicians and potential leaders debate subsidized child care, are we missing an opportunity to discuss whether the tax system is doing enough to recognize the real and increasing costs of elder care?

Especially for experienced tax and financial advisors, unique planning opportunities with Canada’s top experts will provide 10 CE/CPD Credits and access to 2015 tax calculators.

Operating across national borders is easier and more common than ever, driven by technology and economic changes that make it appealing for individuals and businesses to purchase investment property globally.

Let’s face it, we all appreciated the financial support we got when we were struggling students. For those contributing financially to someone else’s post-secondary education, those kind family sacrifices can bring tax rewards even though the amounts have neither risen nor been indexed recently.

New value propositions are cropping up for investors everywhere today. . . but humans are not the only ones delivering. Is Robo-advice a competitive threat or a potential competitive advantage to advisors in multi-generation planning?