FEATURE STORY By Dave Hall
Be Prepared As Tax Season Has Arrived
Pictured is the income tax package for the 2021 tax-filing season. The tax-filing deadline for most individuals is April 30, 2022. Photo courtesy of Canada Revenue Agency.
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Drowning in receipts and pulling your hair out trying to get your 2021 taxes in order? Then it’s time to contact a local tax professional to help fill out your personal income tax return!
severely curtailed by governmentimposed restrictions. “It was really helpful at a time when people needed it most,” Garant believes. While tax season is rarely a time to celebrate, utilizing the skills of an experienced tax accountant or professional can mitigate liabilities, not only this year, but into the future as well. Since income tax returns are considered an essential service, tax practitioners have been able to remain open during the two-year-old pandemic. Many switched to a drop-off system, others handled client returns online and others booked appointments with all safety measures in place, including masks and plexiglass shields between desks. Pandemic or no pandemic, nothing stops the government from collecting taxes right? So let’s introduce you now to a small cross-section of tax practitioners across our region who can assist you with filing your personal income tax returns before the calendar hits April 30. B IZ X M A G A Z IN E • M A R C H 2 0 2 2
© Can Stock Photo/mayu85
ith Canada’s tax-filing deadline just around the corner, finding a qualified tax professional will have a major impact on tax liabilities and may mean the difference between owing money at the end of April or waiting for your refund to roll in. Of course, tax liabilities can be mitigated by making prudent financial decisions, where possible, throughout the year. And the impact of the various federal government funding programs, including the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) which replaced the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), will be felt once again by those who collected such benefits as a result of reduced income because of various pandemic restrictions. “It is taxed at source,” explains Greg Garant of Greg D. Garant Chartered Professional Accountant. “It’s better than not receiving it at all, but you will certainly be re-assessed if you don’t report it.” Beginning in September 2020, the CRB payments amounted to $1,000 every two weeks, but were later cut back to $600 and they have since been eliminated entirely. According to the federal government, more than 627,000 Canadians relied on CRB payments to help replace the income lost as a result of losing their employment or having their hours
© Can Stock Photo/Elnur
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Willson Income Tax
Founder Barbara Willson launched Willson Income Tax in 1960 after she was denied an opportunity to work with the public at her job with Revenue Canada, as it was then called, because she was pregnant with her son Mike. “Those were the days when you’d have to work behind the scenes and there were no maternity leave provisions,” Mike explains. “My mom and dad were big baseball fans, so they decided my mom would start doing tax returns and they’d spend the money on Detroit Tigers tickets.” Mike grew up in the business, became a partner in 1987, and took over completely when his mom, who had continued to work in the family firm beyond a normal retirement age, passed away 10 years ago.
