Wildfires: Apply for Taxpayer Relief Provisions

It may not be the first concern, but Canadians affected by wildfires may worry at some point about the tax consequences of lost records or missed filing deadlines – the next one on June 16 for those filing T1 returns with proprietorship income. Fortunately, the CRA offers Taxpayer Relief Provisions when there are circumstances beyond a taxpayer’s control, including natural disasters, serious illness or death in the family, or errors made by the CRA, which may trigger penalties and interest due to late or incomplete tax filings. Here’s what you need to know.

The vast majority of Canadians caring for sick and disabled family members are missing out on lucrative tax assistance and paying for expensive care costs out of pocket, according to a CIBC poll. Worse, only 12 percent of caregivers are accessing available tax deductions, credits, and benefits on their tax returns.

Entrepreneur Amanda McAskill, of AJM Bookkeeping and Business Services is a recent graduate of Knowledge Bureau’s Bookkeeping for Small Business course. She found herself re-energized by the course, and inspired to tackle her career goals. Here’s her story:

Nearly 90 percent of Canadians filed their tax returns online this year. Despite this, low adoption rates show that some of the CRA’s automated programs are missing the mark - at least so far - and may be failing to improve the rates of taxpayer filing delinquency.

How financially literate is the global population? Not very, according to two important reports, and that’s a big problem. There are significant economic consequences to this knowledge gap that underscore why financial education is essential for everyone.

Young advisors are the future of an industry that’s rapidly transforming, and Knowledge Bureau will be honoring an up-and-coming change-maker at November’s Distinguished Advisor Conference in Quebec City. Nominations for the Distinguished Young Advisor Award are being accepted until August 31, 2018.

Inflation has hit its highest point since February 2012’s 2.6%. It now sits at a lofty 2.5%, and is expected to hold steady until the second half of 2019. Poorly understood, inflation, together with high taxes and rising interest rates, is a great wealth eroder.