Back to School Tax Breaks

Like tax season, back-to-school season rolls around annually with certainty. But in today’s inflationary environment, the start-up costs for getting the family organizing for the school year may seem daunting. The good news is that tax and financial advisors can help clients understand their tax planning options and manage all the receipts that can lead to tax breaks later in the spring during tax filing time. Here’s a primer of topics you may wish to discuss:

Tax season is “taxing” for all the familiar reasons – the deadlines, the missing information and the shock some taxpayers are facing in light of the tariff fallout and for some the fact they may need to pay CRA instead of receiving the expected refund.  There is a big emotional toll tax specialist can bear as well, for example, when hearing of a new disability, a death in the family, or the demise of a business.  In these volatile times, there may be more of the latter, unfortunately.  Here is what to know as these difficult conversations begin to unfold.

The “R” word is emerging daily as market volatility continues in response to the global trade war initiated by the U.S.  How do you explain this to clients and guide them through this period of instability and uncertainty?  Here are some thoughts:

Knowledge Bureau is honored and proud to introduce the distinguished partners at the Acuity Conference for Distinguished Advisors, November 23-26 in Puerto Vallarta Mexico.  Please check out their unique value propositions in the financial services industries they serve and click on their logos on the official conference page for more information.  Then check out the amazing agenda - so far – for this thought leadership event.  A great way to earn CE/CPD credits and network with an outstanding audience of leaders from coast-to-coast:

What’s keeping your clients up at night? How do we help clients accumulate, grow, preserve and transition wealth with the continued volume of change coming from new governments in Ottawa and Washington?  How do we temper harm from difficult relationships people have with money? Share your thoughts on proactively managing client concerns with strategy, process, and answers to these three critical questions, as we hear case study approaches from our panelists at the April 23 Introduction to Real Wealth Management™ Orientation. Learn more and then join these professionals who are the change-makers of the financial services by earning your own specialized credentials as an RWM™.

Over 96% of advisors surveyed in last month’s Knowledge bureau Report poll said that despite ramping up various initiatives and staffing levels, CRA’s service levels have worsened significantly and the commentary around this was interesting.  For the few who said yes, there were no specific embellishing comments, but for those who said no, there was a lot of scathing detail.  Take a look:

Despite the fact that the cost of living seems to be increasing in the grocery story and when paying for transportation and costly medication, Old Age Security benefits will remain unchanged for the April to June 2025 quarter. While increases to OAS over the past year have been 2% from April 2024 to April 2025, the cost of living has increased more, as explained more fully below.  You’ll also be interested in the prescribed interest rates applied to tax refunds and balances due, adjusted quarterly: