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Originally Posted by DownInFlames
Do we need to set up a sub forum for accountants?
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Deep down inside, we are all accountants. You just don't live in the stacks of paper smelling of printer toner making clicking noises on adding machines like some of us do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Monahammer
I have no earthly idea what a bare trust is and even after looking it up am somewhat confused.
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And the failure to file penalty of this information return was basically $2500 or 5% highest FMV of the assets for the year, whichever is greater. A house worth $500K @ 5% (co-signing a mortgage for your kids requires filing a bare trust return) is $25K in penalties, $800K @ 5% is $40K.
An accountant typically would never know if you co-signed a mortgage or added a name on land titles or certain assets for probate purposes. It is documentation that typically never shows up for tax purposes.
Oh, and here's the kicker. There is no definition of what a bare trust is in the income tax act, AND it was very obvious that CRA was going to just sit on their ass and do nothing, then evaluate asset dispositions and say, "Oh, I think there should have been bare trust filing requirements on these... 5% FMV of asset times years the requirement was missed please. 3 years down the road, 15%, 10 years, 50%. Raw FMV of the assets, not the gain, not net proceeds on disposition, raw FMV of assets. Completely idiotic rule.
I'm a taxpayer too and I had to check for any filing requirements for myself. Many clients were angry at me that I was "scaring them" by telling them the potential penalties on some common scenarios was in the tens of thousands of dollars, which it was. I told them I was telling them this so that they could protect themselves because IMO the government did not deserve a single penny for this type of bull#### technicality. I need to analyze how the CRA gets the taxpayer angry at us for bringing these rules to the taxpayer's attention. Vs not really upset at all at the CRA and Department of finance who are the ones who enforce and write these rules.
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Originally Posted by taxbuster
Just a comment on that: we work HARD and read tons of legal crap to keep YOUR money in YOUR pockets. Apparently not many actually appreciate that.
If you want to ban anyone, start with banning stupid posters in the Main Forums. I'll start making the list....
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A client saw my ITA once and asked what it was.
"Tax made easy." was my response.
"God damn. My son is a lawyer and I've never seen him reference a book that thick."