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Instalments – December 2018

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This is a reminder that personal instalments are due on December 15, 2018. The amount due is generally either ½ of the total amount due in April 2018, if you did not receive a request to pay instalments earlier this year, or ½ of the amount remaining from your tax bill in April 2018, less the amount that you were requested to pay on March 15, June 15, and Sept 15, 2018.

Note that my clients can elect to have reminder emails sent out two weeks prior to the instalment due date.

You may also arrange for pre-authorized debit withdrawals from your bank through the CRA’s My Account service.

Failing to prepaid the instalments will result in non-deductible interest charges.

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New Trust Rules

Obligations of the executor/trustee handling an estate of a deceased individual

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The Finance Department proposed in the 2018 budget new rules for Trusts and Estates which are to be filed in 2021 or later. This means that any executor or trustee who is responsible for handling an estate for someone who dies in 2020 (one year earlier) or has an estate which continues without a certificate of discharge beyond 2020, will be affected by these new rules.

Of particular impact is the imposition of a significant penalty of $25 per day, with a minimum penalty of $100 and a maximum penalty of $2,500 for every occurrence of a T3 return filed either late or without the new (proposed) beneficial ownership reporting documents.

If a failure to file the return was made knowingly, or due to gross negligence, an additional penalty will apply. The additional penalty will be equal to five per cent of the maximum fair market value of property held during the relevant year by the trust, with a minimum penalty of $2,500.

This means that, an executor/trustee who knowingly fails to timely file a trust return, could be personally liable for a minimum penalty of $2,600.

We can help you with handling the Canadian/Quebec tax matters resulting from the estate of a loved one – Please feel free to contact me.

Thank you so much for getting this sorted out for me so quickly and efficiently. So glad to have finally got all my taxes in order. I received the cheque on the mail last week just in time for us to spend it all on our trip to Ireland this month to visit my family!

Thanks again

Phil

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EU General Data Protection Regulation – Compliance or not?

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If you use computer software or websites, you probably have heard of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR.) It seems that everyone is gearing up to be compliant by May 25, 2018.

The GDRP is based on seven key principles. These are:

  1. Lawful, fair and transparent processing,
  2. Purpose limitation,
  3. Data Minimization,
  4. Accurate and up-to-date processing,
  5. Limitation of storage in the form that permits identification,
  6. Confidential and secure, and
  7. Accountability and liability.

For the most part, I have always worked towards compliance with this regulation, but I will not be compliant on May 25, 2018. I will point out that I am not required to be compliant as I do not work explicitly with EU citizens. My work is with Canadian resident individuals/businesses and individuals/businesses who have Canadian tax implications.

Compliance with all but the final principle is currently in place. In order to be compliant with the accountability and liability principle, I am required to be able to remove client data. Under Canadian laws and regulations, I am required to keep that same data for audit by the government. While I can move client information to an inactive state, I can’t remove it. This is the extent that I can be compliant.

If a EU citizen wishes to use my services, they must be aware that, during a conflict between the Canadian requirement to retain the information and the EU requirement to permit someone “to be forgotten,” I must remain compliant with the Canadian requirements.

For the above reason(s), I must regretfully decline full compliance with GDPR.

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Are you using an employer supplied email?

Is this really a good idea?

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Some of my clients received surprises this year while they used their employer’s supplied internet and email services to send me tax records. Their records were either not received or were corrupted.

This is of principal consideration for those working for the Federal Government, but the restrictions are expanding to Provincial and Municipal Governments as well as to private employers.The Canadian Federal Government has imposed restrictions on the use of the employer supplied email service and internet.

Be advised that:

  1. If you have personal tax records on your employer’s computers, you may no longer be able to remove those personal tax records from the computers. Your employer now considers those files their property. They may deny you access and/or erase those files without warning,
  2. If you wish to email tax records from your employer’s computers, including T4 and Releve 1 slips that you have downloaded from the employer’s systems (including mainly Phoenix,) you can’t, and
  3. If you use your work email address to obtain your utility and other bills, or use the computer to access your bank, that access may be cut without warning. There will be no sympathy from your employer.

Given that there were some publicized hacks of the government computers over the last two years, further restrictions are anticipated.

If your only internet and/or email access is through your employer, I highly recommend that you make alternative arrangements which no longer depend on your employer’s infrastructure.