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:

A significant tax reform for families in Canada was presented by Prime Minister Harper last week on October 30.

This new federal non-refundable credit will provide up to a maximum of $2,000 in tax relief to benefit one-earner or two-earner couples where one spouse’s income is taxed at a higher rate.

On October 9, 2014, the federal government announced that the maximum amount of expenses that can be claimed under the Children’s Fitness Tax Credit (CFTC) will be increased from $500 to $1,000, and proposes to make it a refundable tax credit in 2015 and subsequent tax years.

The CRA has announced the maximum CPP pensionable earnings for 2015:  $53,600 up from $52,500 in 2014.

92% voted a resounding YES to increasing the maximum limit on capital cost for passenger vehicles in Class 10.1 above $30,000 plus taxes.

Parents who claim babysitting expenses will be happy with the new enhancements to the child care expense deduction on line 214. Effective 2015 and subsequent taxation years, the maximum dollar amounts that may be claimed for each child will increase by $1,000. For children under the age of 7, the maximum claim will increase from $7,000 to $8,000, for children aged 7 to 16 (and for infirm dependent children over the age of 16) the maximum claim will increase from $4,000 to $5,000, and for children who are eligible for the Disability Tax Credit the maximum claim will increase from $10,000 to $11,000. Child Care Expenses can be deducted from the income of the lower-income spouse when the expenses are incurred to earn employment or business income, perform research or pursue an education. The maximum amount that can be claimed each year is limited to the least of:     the total amount spent on child care expenses;     two thirds of the lower-income taxpayer’s earned income; and     the total of the maximum dollar limits allowed for all* children as mentioned above. The amounts are claimed on Form T778 and receipts are required to back up the claim. *Note that the third limit is applied to all children in the family, not just those for whom child care expenses are claimed.