CRA’s Callback Service for Tax Pros Pilot

Are you a tax professional with years of experience? Have you ever felt frustrated after calling the CRA, having spent hours on hold, wasting your client’s or employer’s time, only to speak to CRA agents who aren’t qualified to answer your questions? The Auditor General of Canada was equally displeased in a scathing report last fall on wait times and accuracy levels at the CRA. Now a new CRA callback service may come to the rescue this tax season. Here is my experience with the pilot project so far:

Our 11th annual Distinguished Advisor Conference will have us thinking BIG. Join us November 9-12 in beautiful Horseshoe Bay, Texas. Receive best rates on pre-registration when you reserve your spot by February 15.

On January 17, 2014, CRA announced a new Registration of Tax Preparers Program (RTPP) under which it intends to have all tax practitioners register and be assigned a new PIN number so that CRA can target those with high error rates and intervene with “pre-assessment” visits to promote accuracy during tax season.

The Tax Court of Canada recently provided a favorable ruling in a case that allowed a business to claim input tax credits for amounts of GST already recovered from suppliers through credit notes.

Last week, we discussed the partial success of the Coveleys, a couple whose claim for an ABIL in 2005 was challenged by CRA.

Do you spend money in the course of your work that’s not reimbursed by your employer? Certain employees may, in fact, claim out-of-pocket expenses on their tax returns.

Dean Cockell earned his MFA-Retirement Income Specialist designation in 2008, and since then has been an active Knowledge Bureau alumnus. We are pleased to have Dean as one of our distinguished grads.