Thoughts on BC Politics and More

The federal government will pay $8.7 million to settle a class-action lawsuit involving tens of thousands of Canadians whose sensitive information was compromised or stolen when hackers got into their accounts on government websites, including the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) portal. Hackers targeted government accounts over several months in 2020 largely for the purpose of applying for financial aid in the victims' names during the earliest months of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the Canadian Emergency Relief Benefit (CERB) or the Canadian Emergency Student Benefit (CESB).  More than 47,000 people had their personal and financial information compromised that summer alone, from social insurance numbers and home addresses to details of their bank accounts ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

The federal government’s 2025 budget quietly ended the Underused Housing Tax — a measure that was meant to discourage vacant homes and foreign ownership in overheated markets. A separate tax was removed that applied to yachts and private aircraft. The official reasons were straightforward: the programs were too complex and not cost effective. They tied up administrative resources, created confusion and yielded little in revenue. In other words, the compliance burden wasn’t worth it. The decision made sense. But what’s striking is how that same reasoning is rarely applied when the burden of complexity falls on people at the other end of the income scale ... CLICK HERE for the full story  

One way or another, we’ve all been exposed to the underground economy. Whether it’s sending your kids to a “cash only” home-based daycare business, buying produce at a “pop-up” roadside farmer’s market, or not reporting taxable income from a basement apartment rental. I’ve always avoided that approach to business. That’s not because I’m some kind of saint (or idiot). I hate paying taxes as much as the next guy. Instead, it’s because I don’t like exposing my family to risk.  |Running an unlicensed (and, as a result, uninsured) daycare means that a multi-million-dollar liability is just a single unexpected accident away (along with child endangerment charges). Completing a home renovation without the necessary inspections can be deadly. And the CRA could make my life deeply miserable if I’m ever caught evading taxes ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

A new report from the C.D. Howe Institute says the proposed increase in the capital gains tax rate would impact people and companies more broadly than the government estimates and argues it should be scrapped amid political uncertainty. The report, released Thursday, was authored by Jack Mintz, a senior fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute and the president’s fellow at the school of public policy at the University of Calgary. Mintz’s report comes after the federal government stated Tuesday the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) would continue to act on changes to Canada’s capital gains tax system proposed in the federal budget last year, despite the fact that the changes have not been passed in Parliament, which has been prorogued until March 24. “Far more Canadians would be affected by the tax change than the government seemed to anticipate….I estimate that 22,088 unique Canadians per year, or 1.26 million Canadians on a lifetime basis (4.3 per cent of taxpayers) would be affected by the increa...

The Canada Revenue Agency has denied or adjusted $458 million in funds disbursed to employers through a pandemic-era wage subsidy program as a result of a partially completed auditing process. The agency is releasing a report Monday that offers detailed findings of its audits of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy Program. The bulk of the findings cover the period ending March 31, but the report also offers more up-to-date figures as of Sept. 29 ... CLICK HERE for the full story

If you’re copying someone’s homework, you need to ask yourself whether you trust their work.   The Trudeau government has been quietly expanding the power of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to automatically calculate and file income tax returns for Canadians. In the last budget, it announced plans to expand this power in 2024.   This might sound like a real shortcut, but should you trust the CRA with this power?   The CRA’s job is to maximize the amount of taxes they get from you. The CRA acting as both the tax filer and the tax collector is a clear conflict of interest. And it’s not likely to work out in your favour. This is a classic case of getting the fox to guard your henhouse.   The CRA is already the largest arm of the federal government with more than 59,000 staff. This massive power grab would mean more CRA staff with a more expensive CRA budget.    Do you think the CRA is good at its job?    It sent CE...

 Kamloops Thompson Cariboo Conservative MP Cathy McLeod With so many people working from home to observe COVID-19 health protocols in 2020, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has set up a simplified process for workers to claim expenses on their upcoming income tax return. This new flat-rate method means employees can claim $2 per day if they worked at home more than 50 percent of the time in four consecutive weeks in 2020 due to COVID-19. This temporary method allows eligible employees to also claim $2 for any other days they worked from home in 2020 due to the pandemic, up to a maximum of $400. There is no need to calculate work-space details or keep supporting documents with the new flat-rate method, and it applies to both part-time and full-time employees. The shorter qualifying period means more people can claim the deduction. Also, unlike a prior announcement, those using this method will not need their employers to sign and complete Form T2200 or Form T2200S.   And f...