Helping First Nations, Inuit and Metis with Tax Filing

The Canada Revenue Agency is trying to reach out to Canada’s First Nations, Inuit and Metis to encourage them to file their tax forms on time and could use your help to make sure these communities get all the tax benefits they are entitled to. But filing tax returns are not always easy, especially when there is income on and off the reserve.

On Thursday, March 29, after the federal Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty presents his 2012-2013 federal budget in the House of Commons, Knowledge Bureau Report will issue a Special Report, analyzing and assessing the impact of Budget 2012 on your finances. Tax expert and Knowledge Bureau President Evelyn Jacks will weigh in on the tax consequences, while other Knowledge Bureau experts will comment on the economic and financial and retirement planning implications. So, watch your email for this Special Report.   Additional Education Resources: Financial Recovery in a Fragile World and Debt and Cash Flow Management  

At tax time, Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) releases a steady stream of bulletin and notices to help taxpayers. Recently, the publication T4060 CRA Collections Policies ó Individual Income Tax (T1) and Notice 270 concering elimination of the HST in British Columbia in 2013  appeared on the CRA website. There are few changes to report in T4060, which sets out the procedures for taxpayer remittance and CRA collection of taxes. But worth noting is the Frivolity Penalty, found in section 179.1 of the Income Tax Act. If you are planning on appealing a CRA assessment or reassessment, make sure your appeal has legs. The Frivolity Penalty allows the CRA to impose a penalty of 10% of tax owing if your appeal proves to be frivolous or groundless and you launched an appeal only to defer paying taxes. Notice 270 is a meatier document detailing the ramifications of the April 1, 2013, elimination of the 12% HST. As of that date, HST will no longer apply on taxable supplies or services made in B.C. or to taxable property or services imported to B.C. As of that date, B.C. reverts to the 5% GST. The key date, then, is April 1, 2013. Consider the following CRA example: In December 2012, a consumer buys a refrigerator on a layaway plan. According to the written agreement, the consumer must make six equal, monthly payments starting in January. Possession and ownership of the refrigerator will be transferred to the consumer after the final payment is made in June 2013. HST at the rate of 12% applies to the monthly payments made before April 1, 2013. Payments made on or after April 1, 2013, are subject to GST at the rate of 5%. As you can see, the CRA intends to draw the line at April 1, 2013, so that any payment obligation arising on or after that date will be a GST payment obligation, notwithstanding contractual relations that take into account taxes payable. Additional Educational Resources: Knowledge Bureau ToolKit and Master Your Retirement 2012 Edition.  

Interest rates are putting policymakers and politicians between a rock and a hard place. When the Bank of Canada recently left the overnight rate at 1%, it confirmed the likelihood the stable, low-interest-rate environment would continue into 2013. But those same low interest rates have fostered Canada's overvalued real estate market and record levels of household debt. As TD Bank chief economist Craig Alexander puts it in a recent report, this imbalance "poses a clear and present danger to Canada's medium-term economic outlook.î He calls on policymakers to address the imbalance and take action to minimize the risks associated with the higher interest rates that will eventually, but surely, come. Certainly, mortgage rates are low enough to make acquiring a home, even at inflated prices, attractive. In a battle for market share, non-bank lenders are offering 10-year closed mortgages around the 4% mark, while bank rates may be a two percentage points higher. In fact, it is currently more expensive to owe Canada Revenue Agency money. The CRA's rate on overdue taxes, Canada Pension Plan contributions and Employment Insurance premiums, calculated quarterly, for the period April 1 to June 30, is 5% of the overdue amount. If you owe taxes for 2011 and don't file your 2011 return on time, the CRA charges a late-filing penalty of 5% of your 2011 balance owing, plus 1% of your balance owing for each full month that your return is late, to a maximum of 12months. The CRA recommends taxpayers file their returns on time and pay what they can ó even if they can't pay the whole amount. Alexander's concern is highly leveraged households. He notes growth in household debt over the past decade has been fuelled by "real-estate secured loansî such as mortgages and home equity lines of credit. Either sinking house prices or rising interest rates could provide the economic shock that sends Canadians reeling. "We have estimated,î he writes, "that once interest rates return to more normal levels, more than one million Canadian households (roughly 10% of households that currently have debt) will have to devote 40% or more of their income to making their monthly debt payments ó a level that the Bank of Canada deems puts households in a financially vulnerable position.î Alexander outlines three option: ï shorten the maximum amortization on mortgages to 25 years from 30 years; ï in­troduce a minimum interest-rate floor on all income tests, say 5.5%, when qualifying for mortgages or home equity loans; ï raise the minimum down payment modestly, say to 7% from 5%. He does not recommend all three be instituted at once: "Tighter standards should be imposed in a gradualist fashion to avoid triggering a sharp unwinding of the imbalances that are present.î He admits nothing can be done about the real estate and personal debt imbalance but policy action could prevent that imbalance from becoming larger.   Additional Educational Resources: Financial Recovery in a Fragile World  

If you are supporting an adult who is dependent on you because of mental or physical impairment, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) offers tax relief on this year's federal tax return in the form of several, important, non-refundable tax credits. ï Amount for an Infirm Dependant Over 18. (Line 306) If an adult is dependent on you because of an impairment in mental or physical functions, you may be eligible to claim this amount. The dependent adult's net income ó including social assistance and world income ó in 2011 must be less than $10,358. ï Caregiver Amount. If the dependant lives with you in your home, you may also be able to claim the Caregiver Amount. The dependant's net income threshold is higher in this instance than the infirm-dependant amount. The tax credit begins to be clawed back around the $14,600 mark, making this credit accessible to more taxpayers, particularly seniors who are receiving public and private pension benefits. ï Disability Amount. If that adult child is markedly restricted in daily living activities and a medical practitioner completes form T2201 Disability Tax Credit Certificate, you can also claim the Disability Amount ó provided the disability is expected to last for a continuous period of 12 months or more. This amount is not income-tested; if the dependant does not have enough taxable income to absorb it, you ó as the supporting individual ó may claim it. ï Medical expenses. Medical expenses for the dependent adult, too, may be claimed. Note that as of 2011, there is no longer a $10,000 ceiling on the amount of these expenses. ï Child-care costs. Working parents note: you are also eligible for a lucrative tax deduction for infirm adult children who qualify for the Disability Amount. If you incur child-care costs at your expense, you may be able to claim those child-care expenses, up to a maximum of $10,000 a year. It's Your Money. Your Life. If you are supporting an infirm adult, claim your tax credit. Or, if you know of a family that is taking care of an infirm adult, pass along this information. Often, these tax preferences assist greatly, especially if the caregiver's ability to earn is curtailed because of the responsibilities of care. In fact, knowing about these tax opportunities can create important new money for investments such as a Tax-Free Savings Account or RRSP, which can bring further tax-advantaged cash flow into the family. Next Time: Investing Tips for Young Adults Evelyn Jacks, president of Knowledge Bureau, is author of Essential Tax Facts 2012 and co-author of Financial Recovery in a Fragile World. To purchase your books, visit www.knowledgebureau.com/Books.asp. Follow Evelyn on Twitter @evelynjacks

The RC343 Worksheet for calculating the contribution room for Tax-Free Savings Account Plans (TFSAs) is now available in electronic form on the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) website. But you use the worksheet only if the CRA has incomplete information about your TFSA contributions. To find out what the CRA says about your contribution room you have three options: go online to www.cra.gc.ca/myaccount or www.cra.gc.ca/quickaccess or call the Tax Information Phone Service at 1-800-267-6999. If your numbers and the CRA's numbers don't match, fill in the RC343 Worksheet. Remember, you can contribute up to $5,000 a year and, if you miss contributing in a particular year or make withdrawals, the room accumulates in successive years. But you must be wary of contributing more than your contribution room. As with RRSPs, the CRA charges a monthly penalty ó a tax of 1% on your highest excess amount in that month. But unlike the RRSP, there is no $2,000 "graceî amount for the TFSA. The 1% tax applies from the first $1 of excess contributions. So, if you unintentionally go over, withdraw the excess amount as quickly as possible. Even so, that 1% tax applies for the particular month in which you had an excess. Also, now online is the CRA's RC4018 Electronic Filers' Manual for 2011 income tax returns. Chapter one deals with preparing electronic records while chapter two addresses how to deal with errors when filing electronically.   Additional Educational Resources: Essential Tax Facts 2012 Edition and EverGreen Explanatory Notes  

The Ontario government is changing the way it delivers its Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit (OEPTC) as well as its Northern Ontario Energy Credit (NOEC)  and Ontario Sales Tax Credit (OSTC). Instead of quarterly cheques, come July, all three will be rolled into the Ontario Trillium Benefit (OTB) and will be delivered to the low- to moderate-income Ontarians who qualify as monthly cheques. "Through the OTB, the Province transformed the delivery of Ontario's key refundable tax credits by making payments to Ontarians earlier and more frequently than before,î the provincial government says. "This approach ensures that the payments better match when people incur these costs.î The move has caused some heated discussion among recipients of the tax credit who still prefer to receive one, lump-sum payment. Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan admits his government did a poor job of communicating the change. In future years, he promises, taxpayers will be given the option to choose monthly payments or a lump-sum payment. Ontario instituted quarterly payments in 2011 with payments for the 2011-12 benefit year ó based on the 2010 personal income tax return ó going out in July 2011, December 2011, March 2012 and June 2012 for the OETPC and NOEC. The OSTC benefits were paid August 2011, November 2011, February 2012 and May 2012. Payments for the 2012-13 benefit year ó based on the 2011 personal income tax return ó will be monthly beginning in July. That means Ontario taxpayers receiving the credits get one more quarterly installment ó May for the OSTC and June for the OETPC and NOEC ó before the new, monthly regime begins.   Additional Educational Resources:  Debt and Cash Flow Management and Financial Recovery in a Fragile World