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:

The Income Tax Estimator is a simple, one-page calculator that will help you quickly and accurately determine the total income, net income, taxable income, non-refundable credits, and taxes payable for either a single taxpayer or a couple. Federal GST/HST Credits and Child Tax Benefit amounts are also estimated.

Limited spots are still available for the Personal Tax Bootcamp, starting in Winnipeg tomorrow. Earn up to 30 CE/CPD credits by attending the workshop and completing the Intermediate Tax Preparation post-session course. Call 1-866-953-4769 now to register.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) may be stymied by the billions in unreported income flourishing in the underground economy, yet over 3000 full time staff members will soon be cut, according to information obtained by Postmedia News under access to information legislation.

In a recent decision of the Tax Court of Canada (TCC), the honourable Justice Hogan had to decide if a promise to purchase land, as well as the related deposit, constituted a single supply or multiple supplies for GST/HST purposes within the meaning of the Excise Tax Act (the ETA).

Happy New Year!  If you want to get a “jump start” on your financial fitness this year, get busy and use the current cold snap to sort tax receipts and speed up your tax refund.

Kathy Lloyd earned her MFA-Succession and Estate Planning designation with Knowledge Bureau in 2012 with honours. We are pleased to have Kathy as one of our distinguished grads.