Podcast: Automatic Tax Filing - Will It Work?

Last week Taxpayers' Ombudsperson François Boileau  tabled his annual report:  In Pursuit of Better Service: Taxpayers Deserve More.  once again, it was nothing short of scathing, as CRA received its highest number of complaints in the last three years.  Calling our “completely nuts” Income Tax Act a potential barrier, he is nonetheless pushing for automatic tax filing as a potential solution.  A new episode of Real Tax News with Evelyn Jacks & Friends available next week, will feature guest Gillian Petit, Ph.D. - author of a great report, Welcome News for Lower-Income Canadians, but There’s More to Do - which takes a deeper dive.  Consider the following:

Taxpayers who performed services outside Canada for more than six consecutive months during 2015, for either a qualifying Canadian employer or a Canadian-owned foreign affiliate, will qualify for a special tax credit.

Tax and financial advisors agree: more than ever, empathy is a key ingredient of successful advisor-client relationships. This was borne out in a presentation by Craig Dowden, Ph.D., at the recent Distinguished Advisor Conference. Registration is now available for this annual event, being held in San Diego, November 6 – 9, 2016.

Knowledge Bureau’s recently updated T1 Professional Tax Preparation – Basic course introduces a proven process for consistently accurate T1 tax preparation services, with a professional client interview and documentation management system, now featuring case studies using 2015 professional tax software.

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” -Eleanor Roosevelt

The Ontario government has reversed it's January decision to launch the Ontario Registered Pension Plan (ORPP) in January 2017 regardless of what the federal government does with CPP.  This week, the Ontario government has announced that it will work together with the federal government to achieve the mutual goal of improving pensions.

Families who wish to maximize the anticipated new Child Tax Benefit (CTB) for 2016/2017 have less than two weeks left to reduce 2015 net income using an RRSP contribution. The deadline is February 29. For these reasons, Knowledge Bureau has updated its Income Tax Estimator to assist with the calculations.