From: AlanBaggett@volcanomail.com   
      
   It's About Time the Canada Revenue Agency Just Did Our Taxes For Us : CRA SOTW   
       
   For many Canadians, the CRA already has all of the information they need to   
   complete our tax return.   
      
   Dennis Howlett Executive Director, Canadians for Tax Fairness    
      
   Have you been procrastinating on doing your income tax return? What could make   
   filing our tax returns an easier and more rewarding a experience?   
      
   How about getting the Canada Revenue Agency to do a provisional tax return for   
   us?   
      
   For many Canadians, the CRA already has all of the information they need to   
   complete our tax return. They know how much we have been paid because   
   employers send them that information. Banks and other financial institutions   
   also tell the CRA how much    
   interest or investment income we have earned. And charities report directly to   
   the CRA how much each of us has given in charitable donations. And unless our   
   circumstances have changed, the CRA already knows our age, who our spouse and   
   dependents are, and    
   whether our level of income qualifies us for benefits such as the Canada Child   
   Benefit, GST rebate or the Guaranteed Income Supplement.   
      
   The CRA could easily just run that info through their computer programs to   
   produce a draft tax return. They would then send that to each of us to check   
   that they got all the information right and "presto!" — taxes are done.   
      
   This may not work for those who are self-employed or who have complicated   
   financial arrangements, but for the majority of taxpayers, the CRA could   
   easily do our returns for us and it would be less prone to errors.   
      
   The CRA could easily just run that info through their computer programs to   
   produce a draft tax return.   
      
   Norway,Denmark and Sweden have implemented this system. Introduction of the   
   preparation of the preliminary return by the Norwegian tax authority did more   
   to increase the country's already very high compliance rate than any other tax   
   reform.   
      
   Having the CRA prepare a provisional tax return would also help to ensure more   
   people who qualify for tax-system-delivered benefits such as the Child   
   Benefit, Worker's Benefit and the GIS would get them.   
      
   The CRA has made free tax return software available on their website, which   
   has been well received. But I am sure doing tax returns for tax payers would   
   be even more popular.   
      
   A second thing that would make it easier to do our taxes would be to simplify   
   our tax system.   
      
   A hundred years ago in 1917, when the Income Tax Act was introduced, it was   
   six pages in in length. By 2016, it had grown to 1,412 pages. This has not   
   only made it difficult for ordinary tax payers to complete their tax returns,   
   it has also made it    
   almost impossible for the Canada Revenue Agency to administer or enforce   
   properly. The auditor general recently reported that almost 30 per cent of the   
   answers provided by CRA officials to queries from the public were wrong. It's   
   not surprising, given    
   how complicated the tax rules have become.   
      
   While ordinary taxpayers may worry that they weren't able to figure out all of   
   the various tax breaks they might be able to take advantage of, the much   
   bigger problem is that 42 per cent of the tax expenditures (or tax breaks or   
   tax loopholes) go to the    
   top 10 per cent of highest income earners. While missing a tax break or two   
   for ordinary tax payers may cost you a few hundred dollars at most, the top 10   
   per cent get, on average, a $20,000 discount on the taxes they have to pay   
   because of all the tax    
   breaks they can take advantage of. The federal government could easily raise   
   over $18 billion just by closing some of the most unfair and ineffective tax   
   loopholes, without raising taxes for 90 per cent of Canadians.   
      
   This is an issue where even right-wing groups like the Fraser Institute agree,   
   although they argue for simplifying the tax system in order to lower income   
   taxes.   
      
   Finally, it would help to ease the pain of paying taxes if we knew we are   
   getting good value for our money in the form of quality public services. Most   
   Canadians do get more return in public services than they pay in taxes, but we   
   could do even better.    
   While our public medicare system delivers much better population health   
   results compared to the United States where private care dominates, our   
   quality and breadth of coverage falls short of many other countries.   
   Broadening coverage by introducing public    
   dental and pharmacare coverage would actually save us all money, even if we   
   had to pay a bit more in taxes because buying these services publicly, through   
   our taxes, is way cheaper than paying for it privately or through our   
   workplace health insurance    
   programs.   
      
   Paying more in taxes could actually save us all more money if they are   
   invested wisely in things like public pharmacare, dental and childcare. And we   
   could improve our economic competitive position more by increasing investments   
   in education and    
   infrastructure than lowering corporate income tax rates by a few points.   
      
   Now, stop procrastinating and go do your taxes. Oh, and maybe you might want   
   to add a note to your return asking the CRA to please do your taxes next year.   
      
      
   ----------------------------------------------------------    
   Miss a Tax Tale Miss a lot!    
   Visit the CRA SOTW Library at http://canada.revenue.agency.angelfire.com    
      
   ------------------------------------------------------------    
   Alan Baggett - http://www.taxcollectorsbible.com/ - Tax Collector's Bible    
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)