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:

Tax is a trigger for most clients. It’s complicated, time consuming and requires the meeting of a deadline. It’s also very expensive: it is the family’s largest lifetime expense.

The Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) has published its T2 Tax Guide on its website.

No paper means no tax remittance forms...

The federal budget of Marsh 2012 included proposed changes to the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) Program. 

American Mike “Mish” Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for Sitka Pacific Capital Management, who wrote the following analysis of the markets on November 28, 2012. Do you agree or disagree with his sentiments? 

Many taxpayers are shocked to learn that the bushel of apples, gaggle of geese, or services of great variety, paid to settle a debt instead of cash, all have a commercial value that may have tax implications.