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:

Many families “blow the budget” at “back to school time”, pressured by sons and daughters for elite sports camps, music lessons, sports equipment and uniforms, the latest trends in shoes and clothing, and school supplies of every sort. Help your back-to-school clients prepare for a more responsible future—and some important financial literacy with their children—by helping to set realistic expectations and identifying actions to manage debt and stay on track with financial goals. We’ll even help your learning budgets: Enrol in Debt and Cash Flow Management by August 20 and save $200.

Attendees to this year’s Corporate Tax & Year-End Planning Bootcamp, hosted by Knowledge Bureau, will provide attendees with the background they need to plan and prepare T2 returns for small businesses. Knowledge Bureau is proud to introduce its featured instructor, Larry H. Frostiak, FCA, CFP, TEP.

The Investment Income Calculator provides a step-by-step method for planning investment income for a single client or a couple over a four-year period. The calculator deals with TFSAs, registered investments (including RPPs, RRSPs, RESPs, and DPSPs) as well as non-registered investments.

The Money Matters: Financial Lessons for Life 2014 calendars are full of timely and relevant money matter tips and make wonderful client gifts. Ensure your calendars with a pre-order – the 2013 calendar sold out! English and French calendars available. Order by August 15.

The federal government gave character conversion transactions a mid-summer reprieve on July 11, making the transition process somewhat easier for companies that use derivative forward agreements to change the character of income transactions to capital transactions.

CRA answered close to 3 million calls this past tax filing season, and 20 million—or over 76% of tax filers—filed electronically this year, an increase of 17% over last year.