Bill C-31: Royal Asset and New CRA Powers Could Come Soon

Changes are coming to the Income Tax Act and both you and your clients will all be affected with new tax risks including longer tax audits. Bill C-31, which passed second reading in the House of Commons on June 3 and is now at committee stage, contains elements of previous Federal Budgets that will expand the CRA’s compliance and enforcement powers. Here’s what you need to know and pass along to your clients:

Did you know that last tax filing season, the average tax refund was just under $1,800, ($1740 actually) or about $150 a month?  That’s a lot of money to give to the government on an interest-free basis.  Make a new year’s resolution for 2017:  pay only the correct taxes owing and invest the rest.

If you’re a tax professional, you can’t afford to miss this:  Knowledge Bureau’s Annual Advanced Personal Tax Update is coming soon, January 17-25, 2017, in six cities across Canada. Early-registration savings end January 10. Reserve now to guarantee your spot and do your pre-reading for this comprehensive certificate workshop featuring 10 CE-CPD credits.

Payroll must be right and it must be on time for two reasons:  to keep your employees and to keep out of expensive and time-consuming audits from CRA.  That’s way it can be a sound investment for any small business to insist on professional certification in advanced payroll management.

"Shortly after completing my DFA designation program, I was approached by a Turbo Tax recruiter to apply as a remote tax advisor. After completing their application process of a written exam and phone interviews I was offered the position over the other 700 plus applicants." Liam Pollard, MFA™, DFA - Tax Services Specialist™, Saskatchewan

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”  Albert Einstein

There are so many reasons to count our blessings as Canadians; in the financial arena, one of them is the growth in Canadian wealth over time. While we are behind the US by 22% in terms of wealth per adult ($270,200 vs. $344,700), in Canada wealth has grown at an average rate of just under 6% in the period 2000-2016, and an average of 6.5% since 2010. Why are we so lucky?