June 2008 Archives

CRA Tax Tip:T2 filing made easy

The following Tax Tip is available on the Canada Revenue Agency web site:

Did you know…

That you can file corporation income tax returns electronically from your desktop computer? The benefits of using the Corporation Internet Filing service include receiving an immediate confirmation of receipt and faster processing and refunds. Join us in creating a sustainable environmental footprint by reducing our paper consumption.

Tax professionals can use their EFILE number and password to file eligible corporation income tax returns on behalf of their clients. Need to pay a balance owing? Many businesses find it convenient to use their financial institution's Internet or telephone banking service.

For more information about this tax tip and filing your corporate tax return, please visit the CRA web site at:
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/newsroom/taxtips/2008/tt080610-e.html

Tax Freedom Day for Canada

Ottawa: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today responded to news from the Fraser Institute that Tax Freedom Day for Canada will occur on Saturday, June 14th. Tax Freedom Day is the day of the year when taxpayers finally start working for themselves after paying the total tax bill imposed on them by all governments. The original release and calculations are available at:
www.fraserinstitute.ca.

"Although Tax Freedom Day falls four days earlier than it did in 2007, it does not lessen the importance of lowering taxes. Canadian taxpayers are still working five and a half months to pay the taxes collected by all three levels of government, chewing up 45 per cent of average family income," stated CTF federal director John Williamson. "Pleasantly, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has stated taxes in Canada are still too high. Yet, voters know talk is cheap in Ottawa. At the top of the Conservative agenda should be a broad-based income tax cut because Canada has the highest personal income tax burden of any G-7 nation. We pay more income tax than even the French and Italians do."

- 2008 Provincial Tax Freedom Days* -

Alberta May-28
Ontario Jun-09
Quebec Jun-19
New Brunswick Jun-03
Nova Scotia Jun-12
Saskatchewan Jun-20
P.E.I. Jun-04
B.C. Jun-13
Newfoundland Jun-30
Manitoba Jun-08
*Maritime provinces experience TFD earlier due to the larger federal
transfers as a portion of their revenues.
Source: Fraser Institute

High taxes have fuelled record spending growth by governments and balanced budgets should not be confused with good fiscal management. When Ottawa finally balanced the nation's books in fiscal 1997-98, the idea of setting annual spending targets in a budget and operating within those limits was abandoned. According to the C.D. Howe Institute a decade of fat surpluses resulted in lawmakers spending more than budgeted "for a cumulative spending overrun of an eye-popping $28.7-billion, a sum almost equivalent to what Ottawa spends on elderly benefits a year."

"Millions of Canadians recognize our politicians don't tax to collect the money it needs, instead governments always find a need for the money it collects. And if taxes cannot be reduced when Tax Freedom Day is arriving in mid-June it signals Canadian governments have a spending problem, not a revenue problem," concluded Williamson.

Ottawa's annual expenditures now exceed the 200-billion-dollar mark. Given the Conservative's rhetoric, taxpayers might find it surprising that under their management the size of the federal government has grown by an astounding 14.8 per cent after only two years. By comparison, Paul Martin's free-spending minority government, which lasted two-years, grew the federal government by 14 per cent.

John Williamson
Federal Director
Canadian Taxpayers Federation