Podcast: Automatic Tax Filing - Will It Work?

Last week Taxpayers' Ombudsperson François Boileau  tabled his annual report:  In Pursuit of Better Service: Taxpayers Deserve More.  once again, it was nothing short of scathing, as CRA received its highest number of complaints in the last three years.  Calling our “completely nuts” Income Tax Act a potential barrier, he is nonetheless pushing for automatic tax filing as a potential solution.  A new episode of Real Tax News with Evelyn Jacks & Friends available next week, will feature guest Gillian Petit, Ph.D. - author of a great report, Welcome News for Lower-Income Canadians, but There’s More to Do - which takes a deeper dive.  Consider the following:

G & J Muirhead Holdings Ltd. v. The Queen (2014) TCC 49, a recently released judgment from the Tax Court of Canada (TCC), serves as an important reminder to all taxpayers that rely on the corporate status of their small business for favourable tax treatment: the personal services business distinction could cost you. 

Are you making choices between investing in a TFSA or an RRSP? Which should come first?

Sophie T.K. Tse successfully achieved her DFA-Tax Services Specialist designation from Knowledge Bureau in 2012. We are pleased to have Sophie as one of our distinguished grads.

From a personal tax perspective, rules surrounding donations were a significant part of the tax changes introduced as part of the 2014 Federal Budget announced on February 11.

This guest column was submitted by Doug Nelson, author of the newly released 3rd edition of Master Your Retirement, published by Knowledge Bureau.

I am a dual citizen (Canada/U.S.) and have lived in Canada for about thirty-five years. What are the tax implications if I buy U.S. based ETFs with USD and Canadian based ETFs with CAD?