Would you like to learn more, in simple terms, about the Canadian Tax Laws?

This free session is designed to help Canadians develop their financial literacy and develop a better understanding of the tax system.  The information should help you be better prepared to file your 2014 tax return and to take full advantages of some of the credits you may be entitled to.  Also, you will have the opportunity to learn more about the new 2014 & 2015 tax rules (especially for couples with children) for which you may be eligible.

Whether you are employed, a professional, self-employed or in business this session is likely to help you in your current tax planning and for future years.   Hopefully this will result and allow you to save time and money!   This session is developed by CPA Canada – Community Connect Program and presented by a Chartered Professional Accountant.

For more information and to register :

Effective Tax Strategies Session
Date: Tuesday February 24th, 2015 at 6:30pm
Location: Western Ottawa Community Resource Centre, 2 MacNeil Court, Kanata, ON K2L 4H7
To register: 613-591-3686

See other session dates that are available:  Other Events

Enjoy! / Merci!

Things are difficult enough at Revenue Quebec without this.  They seem to have now found a way to further complicate things. Except, that this time it is for tax accountants operating outside of Quebec.

Le Ministère du Revenu du Québec (MRQ) has decided to revamp their Tax Representative Authorization registration procedures for Netfile in 2015 to simplifying things (I know it’s hard to believe). In order to do so you must have a NEQ number, or be registered for payroll deductions, corporate taxes or the TVQ in Quebec. Unfortunately, it seems that no one thought of the fact that in order to get any of those registrations you have to have a physical establishment or do business in Quebec.  In any other case, MRQ refuses to give accountants a Netfile authorization number for 2015. Fortunately, I have been able to get around this restriction to obtain an authorization number to be able to continue to Netfile the returns of Quebec clients, not without great challenges and efforts on my part however.

Any of you also going through this experience?  Any suggestions other than to have to paper file all Quebec clients from now on for those without an Netfile authorization number?

Thank you / Merci.

This is usually the biggest concern for many prospective clients.  The truth is that while it is an important factor for the prospective client, it is often also a major unknown the professional accountant. 

Professional Fees:  What to expect and is considered reasonable?

To give you an example, it is not uncommon to have a situation with two clients with identical tax needs, information, and documents where the time required to diligently perform the services is quite different from one to the other.  This would be reflected on the final invoices. This is simply due to the fact that some clients will be more organized, have all their information available in a much shorter period of time, respond much more quickly to requests, avoid repetitive deliveries, while others will require additional review time, visits and email / telephone communications on the part of the accountant. Making an accurate estimation of the fees is a lot easier for situations involving returning clients.  In those scenarios, the accountant will have a better idea of what is involved, what needs to be done and how the preparation process is likely to go.

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The self-employed, small and incorporated businesses are by far the category of clients that can benefit the most from using professional tax and accounting services.

Top Ten Preparation Tips for the self-employed and businesses:

1- Make sure your Trial Balance, Income Statement, Balance Sheet and all your annual transactions are well prepared and in balance. Paying close attention to identifying asset versus operating expenses.

2- Properly report all your HST charges and ITC transactions for your HST reporting period.

3- Self-employed individuals and smaller business will usually use pre-developed Excel templates (usually available upon request) to do their reporting and medium size operations will use software such as Sage 50, QuickBooks, etc….

4- It is most important that you include all your expenses. For example, a misplaced $1,000 dollar invoice can represent up to $490 in your pocket! and that is excluding the 13% refundable HST.

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As you may already be aware, the Canadian federal government has announced several new initiatives and tax breaks for familys in October 2014 budget update.

Before I start enumerating some of these announcements, there is a need to inform some families to proceed with a degree of cautiousness and awareness in regards to the new tax savings. Families with children under 18 years of age will definitely be receiving a lot more fund during and throughout the year. That being said, please be advised to spend it with a degree of caution as these UCCB payments are taxable benefits. Not to mention that, in addition to the fact that the government has also decided to abolish the Child Tax Credit, you could consequently be left with higher tax bill come tax time at the end of the year, if your payroll deductions have not been adjusted accordingly, given that all other factors remain the same.

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It’s important to make sure you have someone you can trust, who is truly committed, dedicated and attentive?

Finding a Good Accountant:

It is not wise to judge your accountant’s tax preparation services by their appearances. The mere fact that you are receiving a refund, or even by the size of the refund is not indicative of the quality of his/her services. An accountant who reduces your taxes payable from $15K to $10, is just as competent, if not more, than one who increase your refund from $2K to $3K.

We all know that clients basically have to trust their accountant to be diligent and do what needs to be done properly.  If they could review all his/her work, they would not be using his/her services in the first place anyways, right?  While no one is perfect, how can you evaluate if he/she is ethical, dedicated and will to exercise these important characteristics?
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If I wasn’t an experienced accountant myself, there’s probably a good chance I would not be recommending one either!

(Yes, you read correctly.)

Watch video (in french)

Hiring a Professional CPA Accountant:

Interestingly enough, even the most financially inexperienced individuals are hesitant about spending their money on intangible services such as these. In general, if someone thinks (wrongly so or not) that they can possibly do it themselves, then they would rather try and not have to spend the money for tax services.

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