Time’s Up: CRA’s 100 Day Mandate for Improvement

After years of frustration on the part of tax professionals and taxpayers alike, the Finance Minister ordered the Canada Revenue Agency to clean up its act in 100 days. Specifically, the improvement plan was to run from September 2 through December 11. Finance Minister and Minister of National Revenue, Francoise-Phillippe Champagne instructed CRA to fix “unacceptable wait times and service delays.” Time’s up this week and CRA has released an update on progress. What gets measured, gets done. Let’s see what CRA’s metrics show. 

A good argument can be made for a Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) deposit before year end to maximize government support for the disabled in the family.

An effective year-end tax strategy is to donate to charity. Investors can do so by transferring qualifying shares to their favorite charity and avoid capital gains taxes by doing so. 

The Tax Court of Canada recently allowed aspects of an appeal of one prominent real estate agent in Winnipeg from reassessments made by the Minister of National Revenue (MNR).

If you have a client who has a Registered Disability Saving Plan and is receiving disability assistance payments from the plan, a portion of these payments will be shown in Box 131 of a T4A slip and added to income on the 2013 return.

Gifts made by you or your spouse in the current year or in any of the immediately preceding five years can be claimed on this year’s return so long as those donations have not already been claimed.

You are going to be busy. Now is the time to update your skills and train your staff before tax season begins. Start earning valuable CE/CPD credits today!