The CRA TSlip Saga: An Update

This tax season has been particularly challenging for both taxpayers and tax professionals. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) provides tax information slips—such as T3, T4, T5, and their variations—through secure online portals: My Account and Represent a Client (RAC). This year, there were lots of problems with these portals, and now, it appears, CRA is not being quite transparent about when the slips were actually visible to clients and that doesn’t seem fair. Here’s an update on where we stand now.

With the hope that it will assist taxpayers in determining the legality of their transactions before incurring significant costs, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and the Income Tax Rulings Directorate (ITRD) have announced a one-year pre-ruling consultation pilot project. 

The Department of Finance is seeking the input from Canadians on how to protect consumers in all areas of the marketplace.

The 2013 Federal Budget announced the phase-out of the Federal Labour Sponsored Venture Capital Funds Tax Credit (LSFTC) which will affect claims for taxation years 2015 and 2016.

It was a pleasure to participate in a live tax chat with Canadians from coast to coast before the holidays in an event hosted by MoneySense magazine. One of the interesting questions asked concerned the length of time contributors have to recover overpaid Canada Pension Plan premiums. 

With insurance and tax regulations becoming increasingly complex, some have been arguing for years that “strict liability offences” should provide a bit of relief for those who have trusted their affairs to professionals when regulations are complex and burdensome.

The allowable claim for the regular donation credit is calculated as follows, based on your qualified gifts which can include cash, publicly traded securities and mutual funds, life insurance policies, personal use property, capital property, depreciable assets, cultural and ecological gifts.