Late Filing Penalties: Talk About It!

While most T1 returns are in the hands of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) by April 30, we know many are not. In fact, millions of returns were still outstanding as of mid-May. Late-filing clients they need to know about the consequences, especially if they owe. Here’s a rundown to be aware of:

Last week, Statistics Canada released the results of the Survey of Financial Security – conducted between September and November 2012 – and the news is good: the 2012 median net worth among family units has increased 44.5 per cent since 2005 to $243,800, and almost 80 per cent from 1999 – just 13 years ago. 

Taxpayers can take comfort that the “implied undertaking rule” still protects them when dealing with the CRA in pre-trial discovery, thanks to recent jurisprudence.

Tax literacy is important. Why? Because the tax return is the most important financial document of the year for most Canadians and many changes have recently made it more probable that they will do their returns incorrectly the first time. 

Rick Tomalty achieved his MFA-Succession and Estate Planning Specialist designation in 2012, and since then he has attended Knowledge Bureau's annual Distinguished Advisor Conference. We are pleased to have Rick as one of our distinguished grads.

The recipient of taxable child or spousal support payments must report those amounts as income and pay the tax.

We have learned that Canadians are wealthier today in large part because of the equity in their homes. Will that be enough to supplement retirement needs after downsizing to a small place? Let’s put some numbers to it to find out.