Kensington Income Tax Services
823 5 Ave NW # 304 T2N 0R5 Calgary, AB, Canada

A good reminder to anyone in a service industry who receives tips - they are taxable and therefore required to be reported on your income tax return. Not just debit and credit card tips - cash tips as well.

Making sure you have an up to date Will, Enduring Power of Attorney, and Personal Directive is very important.

Wow! This is big news for federal public servants.

If youre wondering why your income tax return reassessment request is taking 6 months - 1 year to process, read this. Just one more reason to make sure your income tax returns are done accurately and completely the first time.

Beware and be safe!

Interesting if you own a small "family corporation".

Some good income tax advice for small businesses.

The CRAs annual Office Audit Letter Campaign The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will soon be conducting its eighth annual Office Audit Letter Campaign. The letter campaign is designed to encourage behavioural changes among a selected taxpayer population by providing relevant information about their current or past reporting requirements and guidance on how to correct any common errors.... In February and March 2017, the CRA will send approximately 30,000 intent-to-audit letters to selected groups of individual taxpayers and business owners claiming consecutive business or rental losses, and selected taxpayers who may have sold rental property. The objective of the campaign is to encourage letter recipients to review and correct their tax affairs where applicable. This can be done on-line through My Account or in paper format by submitting required changes using Form T1-ADJ - T1 Adjustment Request, or through the Voluntary Disclosures Program. The CRAs emphasis is on helping individuals and small businesses better understand their tax obligations, which in turn increases future voluntary compliance, protects the governments tax base and uses resources within the CRA more effectively.

For those federal employees that are affected by the problems with the Phoenix pay system - this could be a very difficult income tax season.

Income tax filing season starts Feb 20th. If youre expecting a refund, file early and get it as soon as 8 days later!

Finally, teachers will get a small tax break for all the extra expenses they incur to educate our children. Its long overdue.

Have you filed your 2015 income tax return yet? No! Then you wont be receiving this payment. Message me. I can help.

If you are not reporting all the income you are earning, then this article may be of interest to you - especially if you are in the service or construction industry. The CRA has some very smart ways of finding out. Call or message me if you need to discuss your situation. Im sure I can help.

Wow!................................. Wow!

Definitely good for anyone retiring in 2023 onward. Hopefully the government will have enough money to fund it. Id hate for Canada to be the next Greece.

If you receive a letter from the CRA in the next few weeks encouraging you to "review some of your previously claimed rental, business, or employment expenses/losses", its probably a good idea to "review your previously claimed rental, business, or employment expenses/losses" to make sure they have been claimed correctly :) If they havent been, the CRA may show you where you went wrong with an audit, reassessment, and interest and penalties, if applicable :( Dont know if you have a problem? Call/email/message me. I can help.

The Childrens Fitness Amount and Childrens Arts Amount (tax credits) are great credits but you have to make sure your programs qualify and that your receipts have been prepared correctly. Otherwise, you can expect the CRA to disallow the claim if it is reviewed. Whether you are providing the program or are the parent claiming the credit, its a good idea to make sure you have met all the requirements.

If you have missed out on an income tax refund from 2005 or have been charged income tax arrears interest or penalties related to 2005, you only have until Dec 31/15 to request that they be looked at by the CRA. I know its 10 years ago but if this applies to you, better get on it :)

For those of you who are approaching the age of 60 and will be eligible to collect CPP, this article will help you decide when it might be most beneficial for you to start collecting your CPP.

With all the downsizing companies are doing, many employees are receiving buy-out packages. Included in a buy-out package could be a "Retiring Allowance". The income tax that a person might have to pay on a "Retiring Allowance" can be substantial so its good to be informed about any options available to reduce the income tax. This article is a little dry but quite informative.

Aggressive CRA Scam We are warning Calgarians of an increasingly aggressive scam, where scammers purport to be with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and the Calg...ary Police Service. At approximately 11 a.m., on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015, a male victim received a phone call from a male stating that he was with the CRA and that the victim owed back taxes. The victim was then told that warrants were out for his arrest that would be executed if he did not pay the outstanding taxes. The conversation continued and the victim was told that one of the officers executing the warrant would be Staff Sergeant Kristie Verheul with the Calgary Police Service. The victim proceeded to attend a Canada Post outlet and sent an undisclosed amount of money through a wire service. The victim also provided his Social Insurance Number to the scammer. After the conversation concluded, the victim realized he had been scammed and contacted police. Staff Sergeant Verheul is with the Calgary Police Service Economic Crimes Unit and is investigating the CRA and other scams. At no time would Staff Sergeant Verheul contact members of the public in this manner. Scammers have obtained her name through our numerous warnings regarding this scam in the media. Police encourage anyone who believes they may have lost money to one of these scams to call the Calgary Police non-emergency line at 403-266-1234. Anyone who may have other information about these scams, including unsuccessful attempts to obtain money, is asked to contact the non-emergency number, online through http://www.calgarypolice.ca through the Report a crime link, or Crime Stoppers anonymously using any of the following methods: TALK: 1-800-222-8477 TYPE: www.calgarycrimestoppers.org TEXT: tttTIPS to 274637. Citizens can help protect themselves using the following practices: Do not feel pressure to respond to a request until you have a chance to verify the story. Never transfer money, or give out credit card or other financial information, until you can verify the persons identity and the story, and determine whether it is legitimate. The CRA will not ask for payment via prepaid credit cards or wire transfer. Look up published numbers for the CRA in the phone book and confirm the legitimacy of the callers story. Do not call numbers provided to you by the person who called you. Dont believe what you see. Business logos, websites and email addresses can easily be duplicated to look legitimate. Watch for poor grammar and spelling. Contact the business directly to legitimize the communication before you take any action. Search online to get contact information from an official source. Hover your mouse over links to check their true destination. If the URL doesnt match the link, or seems suspicious, dont click on it. Be wary of unexpected emails that contain links or attachments from unknown senders. Update your computers anti-virus software. Ignore calls for immediate action or messages that create a sense of urgency. Beware of Phishing emails posing as the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) requesting personal information, or links within an email re-directing to a fraudulent website that appears to represent the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). The CRA does not email Canadians and request personal information. Never provide personal information such as SIN, bank account information or credit card numbers.

CRAs email message to all tax preparers Filing deadline extension For individuals filing their 2014 income tax and benefit returns, late filing penalties will not be applied to returns filed by midnight on May 5th (local time), regardless of the filing method. In addition, interest will not be charged on any amount owing for the 2014 tax year during the period from April 30 up to and including May 5, 2015. ... For self-employed individuals and their spouses or common-law partners, the deadline to file their 2014 income tax and benefit returns is midnight on June 15, 2015 (local time), and any balance owing is due by April 30, 2015. However, interest will not be charged on any amount owing for 2014 during the period from April 30 up to and including May 5, 2015. The CRA sincerely regrets and apologizes for any confusion this may have caused. For more information please refer to the following link: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/gncy/t1gtrdy/menu-eng.html

Keep your personal information safe.

This is quite a good article on some very common income tax scams and other income tax issues people should be aware of. Beware and be safe!

I think most income tax software works pretty well most of the time. That said, it helps to have a basic understanding of how an income tax refund or balance owing is calculated so you can ensure the result your software is giving you is accurate.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will soon be conducting its sixth annual Office Audit Letter Campaign. In January 2015, the CRA will send educational and intent-to-audit letters to selected groups of individual taxpayers and business owners through the campaign. The campaign supports the CRAs increased emphasis on helping individuals and small businesses to better understand their tax obligations and encouraging them to correct any inaccuracies in their past income tax and b...enefit returns. The CRA will send about 33,000 letters to randomly selected taxpayers who claim business or rental losses or are employees who claim employment expenses on line 229 of their tax return. The campaign is part of the CRAs efforts to encourage voluntary compliance among groups of taxpayers who, our research indicates, may be at risk of non-compliance. The CRA gives taxpayers a chance to come forward and correct their tax affairs through My Account, a T1 Adjustment Request, or the Voluntary Disclosures Program, and taxpayers are taking advantage of these opportunities. Questions/concerns? Call me.

Great question! Thoughts?

Interesting - and unfortunate - income tax case relating to Canadian Residency and Child Tax Benefit. Ive seen many of these cases over the years. Determining if you are still considered to be a "resident of Canada for income tax purposes" while youre living outside Canada is not nearly as straight forward as many think.

This will be well received.