The CRA TSlip Saga: An Update

This tax season has been particularly challenging for both taxpayers and tax professionals. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) provides tax information slips—such as T3, T4, T5, and their variations—through secure online portals: My Account and Represent a Client (RAC). This year, there were lots of problems with these portals, and now, it appears, CRA is not being quite transparent about when the slips were actually visible to clients and that doesn’t seem fair. Here’s an update on where we stand now.

Is it better to invest your money into your TFSA or RRSP? The answer here isn’t black and white, so we decided to crunch some numbers and shed some light on the grey areas, for those who need to make the choice in anticipation of the March 1 RRSP contribution deadline.

The Public Transit Tax Credit has been eliminated by the federal government. But did you know that in Ontario, seniors who have reached age 65 by December 31, 2017, can claim a full-year credit on the 2018 tax return? Even better news: it’s refundable!

There’s nothing like a good house flipping show to get you thinking about the cash potential in your own home. The house flipper approach is to buy homes, live in them short-term while fixing them up, and then sell them; often for big profits. It sounds simple, but it’s not a foolproof strategy, because it comes with tax risks. When done often, house flipping can raise eyebrows at the CRA. Learn how to flip with care, and understand the principal residence rules that could diminish your profits, or worse.

It’s lonely at the top. You’ve heard this before and perhaps you are experiencing it now. Leadership is not easy, in fact, it is downright tough most days. Yet if you are destined to lead - and you can evolve your skills to continuously improve over time - you will learn to soar. Not just because you are succeeding, but because everyone around you is.

A Special Budget Report will be available. Be sure to encourage your associates and colleagues to get their own subscription to KBR in advance of this important annual event. Subscribe here.  

The CRA officially began accepting electronically filed tax returns this week, but you may want to slow down and observe an important tax savings opportunity before you rush to file. Contributions to your Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) for the 2018 tax year ends on March 1, 2019. Besides reducing your tax bill, you could score even bigger returns: increased refundable and non-refundable tax credits.