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:

CRA announced on September 23 that the prescribed annual interest rates will indeed go up by 1% on amounts owed to and by the CRA by individuals and corporations.

CRA is cracking down on the use of electronic suppression of sales (ESS) software.

New Governor of the Bank of Canada (the Bank), Stephen S. Poloz, told a Vancouver board of Trade audience last week that the key to economic growth in Canada lies in the creation of new businesses which in turn, create new jobs, and the new income required to propel our economy forward in the near future. 

It’s my favorite time of the year: with the beauty of fall comes the opportunity to arrange your affairs within the framework of the law to pay only the correct amount of taxes in 2013—no more.

In its Backgrounder to the new Section 237.3, which defines reportable tax avoidance transactions that may be subject to the General Anti Avoidance Rules, Finance Canada has assured taxpayers that the provision, is for “administrative purposes only” and therefore it is unlikely that it will be used to incriminate a taxpayer. 

On September 20, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced that it would revoke the registered charitable status of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) Development Foundation.