December 22, 2010 by Dan White.

CRA Collections Department is the New Super Collection Agency

CRA has new training programs and videos teaching collections officers how to collect the maximum amount of money possible.

CRA’s mandate is The governments are our clients. Taxpayers do as they are told.

Our inside sources tell us the stressed out collections officers question is “what do we collect next? Parking Tickets?

This overly aggressive behaviour comes directly from the government of the day. Our governments drive for money is has turned CRA into a collections machine never seen before in Canada.

It does not matter who has their life ruined or who dies of stress. Money has no feeling, no concience and has no friends. CRA is under huge pressure from above to collect and collect quickly.

So make sure that you keep audit ready books or you just may find yourself looking down the double barrel shot gun and if you don’t have great records you are dead.

Our new Audit Ready Bookkeeping software version 1 will launch in January 2011.

To learn more about audit ready bookkeeping go to www.taxauditsolutions.ca or click here.

Regarding CRA Collections: What are they really like? A realistic view.

Firstly I need to acknowledge that there are lots of good people who work for CRA collections, but no one ever complains about the good guys and girls. It is the hard asses that make life horrible for the average taxpayer who gets in default of paying their taxes.

When someone is having financial problems, and they are in arrears with CRA, That is when trouble really begins. If is imporant to deal with tax debt in a proactive mode. It is a lot less problematic before CRA Collections comes calling. Even worse is if your account goes to Collections.

If CRA first line collections is not paid to their satisfaction the account goes to Aged Collections. That is where things get nasty. Very nasty! Once someone is in aged collections, that means the gloves are off and it is a case of Big Mack Truck versus a small furry animal. At this point CRA senses that you are in financial trouble and comes in for the kill.

This is where life gets simple. One either has the assets to pay and you better liquidate them and get CRA Collections satisfied or have your life ruined. It is as simple as that. Kevin Oleary from the TV show “Dragon’s Den says money has no feelings and no emotion. People care about money, but money does not care about people. CRA Collections is the same as money, they don’t care about people. It is a matter of “Show Me The Money!”

If the tax bill cannot be paid, then it is a simple case of taxpayer insolvency. In which case this needs to be acted on promptly.

Someone in this position needs to get good consulting and quickly. We recommend talking to us before meeting a Trustee. We work with Trustees and we can make this process a lot less intimidating and stressful.

In aged collections, CRA sometimes even puts in writing; “There are no restrictions under the ITA or ETA as to what they can do.

What they are legally allowed to do and what they sometimes do is quite different. An additional CRA collections bonus, so to speak.

CRA knows full well most people cannot defend themselves when they are already in financial trouble. Therefore there are lots of times people pay up or go bankrupt when they really did not owe any money to CRA.

Here are some examples of what CRA can to when the gloves come off and they go for the kill.

The Requirement To Pay on any sources of income.

Freezing any and all bank accounts.

Go after spouses corporation using relatedness arguments.

Harassment phone calls and visits,

Sending brown letters with… a bunch of “sometimes known as;s”

Embarrassment at the banks

Do hard credit cheques at the credit boroughs.

Send legal warning letters.

Stop spouses tax credits.

Do home drop ins… two collections officers in black leather jackets.

Harassment of spouse.

Talking to neighbors, suppliers and tenants.

Issuing of Requirements to pay to taxpayers customers.

Drop in for a visit at work.

Ruin his health.

Kill him from Stress.

Once CRA has certified the debt, they can harass an estate even after the death of the taxpayer.

 Just be aware: CRA Collections is worse than anyone realizes. It is where things get very dirty and terrifying….. that is why fixing tax problems is more expensive once the debt goes to collections. Unless you get a decent collections officer, you are going to be in one hell of a fight.

 For those of us who go to battle with CRA to get what is right, we fight a very hard battle. There is no way one can deal with CRA and not take a whole load of stress home at the end of the day.

The tax business services offered to clients by some accounting and legal firms is a joke… There are other top guns out there, and you need to make sure that you hire a seasoned professional with a track record of success. Most professionals are afraid for themselves and with good cause, therefore they often won’t take the fight far enough to get what is right.

To learn more about CRA and CRA collections go to www.taxauditsolutions.ca or click here.

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December 22, 2010 by Dan White.

Well we are near Christmas and it is the festivities time of the season. All the parties are happening, the presents are bought or are soon to be … there are always those last minute things to buy.
This year I have decided to endorce the concept of Festivus. Festivus is a great idea for those of us who want to celebrate the holidays with all our friends and family and not just with Christians.
For years the subject of Christmas has become more and more a polically sensitive topic as to issues such as Christmas being exclusive of other faiths.
By endorcing Festivus, it solves all those political problems and does not stop me from having my personal relationship with Christmas. I can now celebrate the holidays with all my friends and family and religion is in or out of the picture depending who believes what.
To find out more about Festivus, be sure to go to www.whatisfestivus.info And if you are having a tax issue this holiday season, make sure you click on the information about the Grinch who stole Festivus.
Happy Festivus Everyone.
Dan White

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December 3, 2010 by Dan White.

CRA’s relentless attach on donors, looking for reasons to disallow taxpayers tax credits from charitable donations is backfiring. When taxpayers stop donating, the poor suffer and the load on social welfare increases.

It was not to hard to figure out that if Canadians are going to have to fight CRA just because they want to help the needy and benefit from a tax credit to offset the amount donated, then the obvious answer is that they just don’t donate. With CRA out to disallow your tax credits, why set yourself up for abuse?

CRA is sucking and blowing at the same time. They say donate, but then they look to disallow the tax benefits that rightfully apply.

I am not saying this from hearsay, my business is helping abused taxpayers. As a result of what I see first hand, I have a very negative attitude towards CRA and their approach to taxpayers. To them unless you are a T4 salaried employee than you are assumed to be a tax cheat. CRA gets to be the way they are because Canadians have a distorted concept of the true CRA reality. The majority of Canadians are salaried, so most of them don’t get to see the dark side of CRA. Ask anyone who has been audited and you start to get the picture.

As far as I can see, CRA has put the nail in the coffin. I for one will now only help the needy by dealing directly with them, and I sure as hell won’t be submitting any charitable donations slips. I don’t need the aggravation, if CRA wants to disallow my donations, then they can have it… If I do happen to donate, I won’t use a charitable donation receipt for any tax savings.

To learn more about tax problems and tax audit solutions, go to www.taxauditsolutions.ca or click here.

 Dan White

………..

Charities see alarming trends as donors become older, fewer
PAUL WALDIE
From Friday’s Globe and Mail
Published Thursday, Dec. 02, 2010 8:13PM EST
Last updated Friday, Dec. 03, 2010 7:12AM EST
391 comments
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Canada’s long tradition of supporting charities is showing signs of erosion.
The number of Canadians making charitable donations is falling sharply and the total amount donated has dropped by nearly $1-billion over the last two years. Meanwhile, the average age of donors has risen to 53, leaving many charities wondering where future funding will come from.

The trend is “troubling,” said Cathy Barr, vice-president of operations at Imagine Canada, an umbrella group for Canadian charities. She added that there is real concern that “the donor base is shrinking and that’s very worrisome.”

Figures released by Statistics Canada last week highlight a disconcerting trend for charities. The report showed that 5.6 million people donated money last year. That was down from 5.8 million in 2008 and was the lowest number of donors since 2002, when 5.5 million people gave money. In dollar terms, total donations dropped to $7.75-billion in 2009 from $8.19-billion in 2008 and $8.65-billion in 2007.

The participation rate – a measure of the percentage of tax filers reporting a donation – is even more troubling. Last year, 23.1 per cent of taxpayers claimed a deduction for making a charitable donation. That was down from 24.1 per cent in 2008 and marks a 30-year low. Not that long ago, nearly one-third of taxpayers reported a donation; now the percentage is less than one-quarter.

The recession and a crackdown on illegal tax shelters by the Canada Revenue Agency accounts for some of the downturn, but not all of it. In fact, the number of donors increased between 2007 and 2008 for the first time in years, an indication that Canadians are prepared to dig into their pockets during times of financial distress. And Imagine Canada estimates that even when the CRA’s move to revoke several tax shelters is taken into account, donations are still down.

“You begin to worry at a certain point, is this the hollowing out of the middle class? Is this the lack of social connection?” asked Malcolm Burrows, who heads philanthropic advisory services at the Bank of Nova Scotia. “It’s one thing for dollars to go up and down with the economy. It’s another thing for this long-term trend of donors disappearing. That is worrying.”

He and others say the trend indicates a growing gap between wealthy Canadians, who have largely continued to make donations, and the middle class, which has found giving difficult during tough times. Statistics Canada figures show that over the last decade the number of donors has fallen, but the median gift has increased from $190 to $250. That means fewer people are giving more money.

The average age of donors has also slowly moved upward, rising from 51 earlier this decade to 53 last year. Ms. Barr said that likely reflects tougher economic times for young people, many of whom are still struggling with the recession and the high cost of essentials like housing. But a bigger concern is that young people don’t seem to be getting into the habit of donating. “That is particularly troubling,” Ms. Barr said.

Targeting younger donors has been critical for charities like United Way Toronto, the largest United Way in Canada. The organization launched a GenNext campaign about four years ago aimed at people between the ages of 20 and 30. Julia Gorman, vice-president of resource development at the charity, said young people volunteer more and also want more information about where their donations go. This year the organization has held more than 1,000 presentations with donors and agencies supported by United Way to explain how donations are spent. “We’ve never done that before,” she said.

Ms. Gorman said the overall fundraising climate is difficult and United Way Toronto’s annual campaign is about one-third short of its $113-million goal with less than a month remaining.

Marvi Ricker, managing director of philanthropic services at Bank of Montreal, said the financial squeeze on the middle class is hurting many smaller charities. “I think that’s where the donations to smaller organizations, more grassroots types, are really going down,” she said.

But she remains optimistic, citing a recent study by the bank that indicates aging Canadians plan to give well into their retirement. And she takes heart from various efforts by teachers to get students interested in philanthropy. “More people are taking a different approach to giving,” she said. “They are doing philanthropy not just writing cheques.”

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