Have you bought and sold a new condo over the past seven years? The Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) has deployed abusive audit practices and has been targeting the booming real estate markets in Toronto and Vancouver. The focus of this audit trend is primarily on individuals who intended on flipping said properties for a profit […]

U.S. Citizens worldwide have recently learned, especially through the enactment of FACTA, that they have a responsibility to come forward to the IRS. U.S. Citizens, whether residents or non-residents, dual citizens, and even non-U.S. Citizens who are deemed U.S. Residents are generally all required to report their worldwide income to the IRS, despite where they […]

If you are a Canadian with offshore property and/or income, be advised that there are new reporting requirements due to changes imposed by the federal government. There have been signs to indicate that they are serious about making people pay. It is important to note that investments outside the country are not illegal as long […]

I have seen a huge spike in the number of nurses being audited.  The number has increased dramatically over the last year.  The CRA is steadfast in going after the homecare sector and appears to be attempting to disallow virtually all of their deductions – despite the fact that many of these workers are only […]

The Canada Revenue Agency is financially destroying victims of tax scams through the imposition of gross negligence penalties! You may have fallen victim to a tax scam, or perhaps one of your family members, friends or co-workers has been victimized.  After a wave of tax scams over the last number of years, thousands of victims […]

March 16, 2015: For the millionth week in a row Dale Barrett’s book is featured on Amazon’s bestsellers list. No other Canadian tax lawyer’s book appears in the top 100! Tax Survival for Canadians: Stand up to the CRA, which was published in March 2013, ranks 7th in tax, 7th in taxation, and 68th in […]

Have you ever phoned the Canada Revenue Agency seeking advice or clarification about an important tax matter? Have you ever wondered whether you are getting correct advice? Well a recent internal survey (conducting by the government itself) asking that very question provides some shocking new information as to the accuracy of the information taxpayers are […]

February 23, 2015: Gail Johnson from Yahoo Finance wrote a useful article on “What Happens when your tax return gets audited” According to Barrett Tax Law, the CRA performed more than 370,360 audit and review actions in the 2008-09 tax season. During that period, it conducted 1,439 international tax audits and 34,111 tax shelter audits. Of those […]

March 2, 2015: Tom McFeat, from CBC News, wrote a very informative article on how to attract a CRA auditor’s attention. The tax department “has tools to investigate and gather information about your industry,” says Barrett Tax Law. “If your numbers don’t fit the typical profile, then chances are greater that you will be audited.” […]