Financially Speaking

JAIL TIME for Paradigm Education promoters. Students of these programs have also been filed and sent to jail. There is no such thing in tax, as the de-taxers claim , as a "natural person". If you have fallen for one of these schemes you may be able to avoid penalties, interest and jail time by using the Voluntary Disclosure Program (VDP). Do it now well you have time, if CRA have started investigating you it may be too late.

Interesting Court Cases in Asset Splitting in Common Law Relationships The high cost of asset accumulation in a Common Law relationship By Jordan McKie...Continue reading

CRA TAX SCAMS - BEWARE OF CALLS TREATING TO ARREST YOU, ETC Police are warning the public that there has been an increase in fraudulent activity conducted by phone and/or email. In some instances, the suspects use software to have their number appear to be calling from a police line or even the CRA directly. In one instance, a woman was told she owed $58,000 in overdue taxes and if she did not pay immediately she would be arrested.... If you receive any request by email, phone or other format and you suspect fraud, please contact the police directly. The CRA has issued guidelines on its website to help you identify possible scams. The CRA: never requests prepaid credit cards; never asks for information about your passport, health card, or driver's licence; never shares your tax payer information with another person, unless you have provided the appropriate authorization; never leaves personal information on your answering machine or asks you to leave a message containing your personal information on an answering machine.

High Income ($200k+) Albertans May Want to Consider Deferring Donations to 2016 The new Federal Budget has a new high income tax bracket of 33% for your taxable income exceeding $200k starting in 2016. On the positive side, they also increased the federal donation credit for those in this high tax bracket to 33% for every dollar donated to a registered charity in excess of $200. In Alberta this results in top tax payers saving 54% (33% federal + 21% Alberta) on their charitable donations made after December 31, 2015.

Disability Tax Credit, client just rec'd $5k refund because I pushed him to get the DTC. It was 2X what he expected because properly completed.