Time’s Up: CRA’s 100 Day Mandate for Improvement

After years of frustration on the part of tax professionals and taxpayers alike, the Finance Minister ordered the Canada Revenue Agency to clean up its act in 100 days. Specifically, the improvement plan was to run from September 2 through December 11. Finance Minister and Minister of National Revenue, Francoise-Phillippe Champagne instructed CRA to fix “unacceptable wait times and service delays.” Time’s up this week and CRA has released an update on progress. What gets measured, gets done. Let’s see what CRA’s metrics show. 

It’s true: nothing is as certain as death, taxes and tax change!  That’s perhaps why almost 60% of Canadians get someone else to do their tax return, according the CRA.  Do you know what this sounds like to us? OPPORTUNITY! 

Did you know as many as 1 in 10 Canadians don't file their taxes?  Canadians who don't file their income tax returns may be shocked to find out how much money they're owed by the federal government for years of missed benefits.  The tax benefits lost to working-age non-filers was about $1.7 billion, according to an award winning research paper[1].

President and CEO of Knowledge Bureau, Evelyn Jacks, joins Derek Notman and H. Adam Holt on their podcast, Rethink. Financial Advice, and discusses a variety of issues critical to the future of the tax and financial services industry: what's on the horizon for advisors and how to best prepare for the headwinds affecting us all. You’ll want to take this in.

The 2022 version of Form T777 Statement of Employment Expenses is available and worth a detailed look. Employees who have a T2200 form signed by their employer may use this form to claim their home office and other expenses. In addition there is a new section for the claiming of the new labour mobility deduction for an eligible tradesperson.  Following are tax tips you should take note of in 2022.

Last summer, suspected “high risk” tax preparers were under the microscope by the CRA for submitting fake CEWS and CERS claims on behalf of approximately 2000 business clients.  The gross negligence penalties alone amounted to $10 Million; this aside from the clawback of $25 Million in benefits paid. While these cases are in the minority – only 300 cases audited so far - they shed light on several things: once selected for audit, the burden of proof is always on the taxpayer, the penalties for dealing with high risk preparers will be huge, and from a client’s perspective, it pays to put your faith in a highly qualified tax professional.

The burden of proof for accurate tax filings is always on the taxpayer, but in return, the taxpayer has several basic tax filing rights enshrined in the sixteen “Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, ” together with five additional rights for small business. Now there is an additional tool when CRA fails to provide you with your rights to accurate and timely information: Form RC193 Service Feedback Form.