Changes to Paper Filing Disempowering

Last tax season, only 7% of all Canadian tax filers filed on paper. The CRA is pushing for zero. It continues to steer the holdouts to digitized filing by adding lots of obstacles. Most recently, it is removing almost all the schedules from the tax return package it mails. This seems unfair to people who paper file because they can’t afford a computer and internet, distrust the security of online filing and those who are neither tax or computer literate. Here’s what they are up against:

Daishowa-Marubeni International Ltd v. Her Majesty The Queen [2013] SCC 29 An important and eliciting tax decision was recently released by the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) analyzing the difference between liabilities and embedded obligations as well as the role of tax symmetry in the Income Tax Act (the Act).

On April 29, the Minister of Finance, Jim Flaherty, introduced Bill C-60 to Parliament which proposes to implement certain provisions of the March 21, 2013 federal budget.

Part of the Bank of Canada’s Spring Review, released on May 16, included an article titled “Explaining Canada’s Regional Migration Patterns”, which provides interesting data on the effect of demographic migration on economic policies in Canada. It also provides, therefore, important information for professional advisors who wish to more strategically define growth in their practices over the long run.

Unhappy with your dealings with a CRA Auditor? The Taxpayers' Ombudsman can help when the relationship is fraught with communications issues between the taxpayer and the auditor.

If there was one insight I gained as I worked on the Federal Task Force for Financial Literacy is that more than any other single issue, challenges of financial literacy affect every Canadian and bind us together in our mutual need for financial education.

Up until 2009, CRA took the position that where you accumulate frequent flyer points while travelling on employer-paid business trips and used them to obtain air travel or other benefits for personal use by you or your family, the fair market value of such air travel or other benefits must be included in your income.