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:

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.