Announcements

CRA has released a tax tip summarizing “Six things to avoid at tax time”.

1. Not doing your taxes
2. Not reporting all your income
3. Making a claim you’re not entitled to
4. Missing out on tax credits, benefits and deductions
5. Filing late
6. Not keeping receipts and records

To read the full article click on the following link: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/news/newsroom/tax-tips/tax-tips-2017/six-things-avoid-tax-time.html

This publication is produced by Andrews & Co. as an information service to clients and friends of the firm, and is not intended to substitute for competent professional advice. No action should be initiated without consulting your professional advisors.

Last year The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) was warning Canadian tax payers of an increase in telephone scams where the caller was impersonating a CRA representative. The CRA has reported, that this year reports of emails, text messages and telephone calls related to tax scams are continuing.

Consumers are receiving emails and/or text messages indicating a refund pending from the CRA. The link directs customers to a website that looks like the actual CRA. Specific personal information is requested in order to get an email money transfer. Victims who input their personal information are subject to identity fraud (no refund is ever issued).

A clear indication of a scammer will be if they request unusual or suspicious information from you. This information includes your credit card information – including prepaid credit cards, and your passport, health card, or driver’s license details. In addition, the CRA will never leave personal information in a voice mail message or request you to do the same.

To verify if you are dealing with a legitimate CRA representative, request their name and identification number – some collections official may come off as forceful and aggressive, but all valid representatives will provide their identification number.

You can then call the CRA back at their general inquires line and explain the situation. Once you provide them with the identification number and information received they will be able to authenticate the original call. Due to the high increase in fraudulent calls occurring, it is recommended that you never release the information being requested and following up with the general inquires line at the CRA at once. You can also talk with your accountant and they can provide additional guidance on your specific situation.

In most cases, the CRA will use mail to contact consumers (not email, phone or text messages). Never provide personal information over the telephone, by text or email.

A special note: If you are ever the victim of one of these calls, you should report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at once.

This publication is produced by Andrews & Co. as an information service to clients and friends of the firm, and is not intended to substitute for competent professional advice. No action should be initiated without consulting your professional advisors

A friendly reminder that the deadline for the following returns and reconciliations is less than one week away – Monday, April 2^nd 2018:

• T3 (RL16) slips and summary filing
• NR4 filing information
• Annual reconciliation form to WSIB
• T5013 (RL15) Partnership Information Return

Our 2017 Personal Income Tax Return Checklist is now available to download.

• Visit our resources tab for more information

A friendly reminder that the following due dates and deadlines are fast approaching:

The first quarterly personal tax installment is due on Thursday, March 15th.

The Employer Health Tax annual return deadline is Thursday, March 15th.

The 2018 Federal Budget has now officially been released.

To find out everything you need to know about this year’s budget, visit our resources tab to download our Federal Budget Commentary

The T4/T5 filing deadline is fast approaching!

A friendly reminder that the T4 (RL1), T4A (RL2), T5 (RL3) filing deadline is less than a week away (February 28^th, 2018). Be sure to provide your accountant with all relevant documents to make sure that your T4s, T5s and all other slips are filed on time to avoid penalties.

Download our 2018 Tax Resource Guide for general information regarding 2018 tax matters now!

• Visit our resources tab to download

Webpages are constantly evolving. An individual may wish to see the history of a certain webpage for any number of reasons.

Without a webpage or website self-reporting the changes made, identifying them can be difficult. However, there are a number of tools available on the Internet that may be useful in piecing together a webpage’s historical data. One such tool, https://archive.org/web/, aims to record what a webpage looked like at various moments in time. This can enable users to see how a webpage has changed over time.

Action Item: Use this tool to find historical information on the internet.

This publication is produced by Andrews & Co. as an information service to clients and friends of the firm, and is not intended to substitute for competent professional advice. No action should be initiated without consulting your professional advisors.

Take a look at our 2018 important filing dates to ensure you stay on track for the rest of the year!

• Visit our resources tab to download your own copy

Reminder to pay annual interest on loans received by family members or family trusts on or before January 30, 2018 to avoid income attribution for 2017

Reminder for employees who have received a low-interest loan from an employer during 2017 to pay annual interest on or before January 30, 2018 to reduce the amount that will be deemed a taxable benefit