MAKING YOUR MILES COUNT Robert D. Scheper
Oh No! It’s tax time AGAIN! Once again, another income tax season is upon us and we are still stuck in COVID-19 restrictions. Many times, I have been asked for my opinion about when it will end? My answer is the same. It entirely depends on politics and public opinion. Some regions of North America have completely opened, and others are closed using nearly identical statistics. I have friends in Florida for instance, who have no restrictions at all. Life for them is pretty much pre-pandemic while other jurisdictions are locking down and restricting as fast (or faster) than laws may even allow. Our crazy world ship has not yet left the crazy port. The tax deadlines this year have returned to pre-pandemic standards/rules. This means getting your paperwork together is still high priority at this time of the year. There will be no delays as there were last year. When it comes to preparing your taxes, two general rules should be understood by everyone: first, most taxpayers 8 • OVER THE ROAD
have unique situations that apply to them personally (single/married/kids, homeowner/renter, RRSP contributor verses not… etc.) and each taxpayer should understand WHAT their situation is. The second general rule is… those unique situations do not change year over year without a conscious act of will (i.e., getting married, deciding to contribute to an RRSP or not, purchasing a home, having another child). In other words, most of your basic tax questions will not change from the year before. Only the numbers will change (higher or lower). The entire tax system is based on consistency with only minor changes. Even though life changes dramatically (and the numbers behind them), tax laws and its applications do not. There is a famous adage saying that the two certainties in life are: death and taxes. We only must deal with death once… taxes all the time. If you are a driver you will want to prepare your taxes asap. As stated in MARCH 2021
