Larry Roche

The Canadian real estate market hasn’t tumbled as much as it has in the United States, but it is hard not to be affected by the doom and gloom. Perhaps sensing this, our federal government used its most recent budget to announce new and improved measures to help home owners and the construction industry. First-time […] Read more

One of the pleasures of hunting for game is filling a freezer with delicacies at far less than grocery store prices for domestic meat. In some cases, however, hunting is a subsistence activity that puts much needed food on a table that otherwise might be bare. So how is it possible that the taxman can […] Read more

Tax Free Savings Accounts have arrived to almost universal praise from the financial community. They are recognized as one of the best government initiated tax benefits to be introduced since the creation of the Registered Retirement Savings Plan program more than 50 years ago. The concept is simple. You and your spouse each get to […] Read more

The stock market has gone into a tailspin, taking your investment portfolio with it. If that makes you unhappy, you are not alone. Your investment partners aren’t pleased, either. Investment partners – who would that be? The federal and provincial governments, of course. After all, they grab a portion of every capital gain you realize […] Read more

The Canada Revenue Agency claims that the average tax refund for the 2007 tax year rose to $1,440 per person, almost $200 more than average 2006 refunds. CRA credits this improvement to new 2007 tax measures such as children’s fitness, public transit and pension income splitting. The good news also includes a measure that the […] Read more

The Canada Revenue Agency claims that the average tax refund for the 2007 tax year rose to $1,440 per person, representing an increase of almost $200 from 2006 refunds. CRA credits this improvement to new 2007 tax measures such as the children’s fitness amount, the public transit amount and pension income splitting. The good news […] Read more

The Canada Revenue Agency has operated under “fairness provisions” or “fairness legislation” since 1991. Indeed, CRA refers to the concept of fairness when dealing with taxpayers as “a key corporate value.” The fairness provisions of the Income Tax Act allow the agency the discretion to provide certain kinds of relief to taxpayers who for one […] Read more

The Ecoauto Rebate Program announced in last year’s federal budget never made a full circle of the track. The program was for people who, starting March 20, 2007, bought or leased new cars officially designated as gas sippers. The rebate was to be $1,000 to $2,000 depending on the model’s fuel consumption ratings. The government […] Read more

So you think tax season is finally over now that you filed your return? Well, for almost three million Canadians it’s just beginning. That is because the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is just starting to review the tax returns that were filed electronically or ones that did not have supporting information slips or receipts with […] Read more

Most large organizations launch periodic campaigns to motivate their employees and customers to action. But if you are the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), how do you motivate the thousands of auditors and investigators you have hired to root out tax revenue that is seeping from the government’s coffers? That’s easy – you declare March Fraud […] Read more