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The following is now available on the CRA Web site:

Ottawa, Ontario, February 28, 2007…

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) reminds goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) registrants that they have until March 31, 2007, to review their records and send in any requests for penalty and interest relief under the fairness provisions for a reporting period that ended on or before December 31, 1996.

Legislative changes to the fairness provisions in the Excise Tax Act (both for GST/HST and non-GST/HST purposes) were introduced in 2006. Starting April 1, 2007, the Minister’s discretion to waive or cancel penalties and interest will be limited to requests for reporting periods that ended within any of the 10 calendar years preceding the calendar year in which the request is made.

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* IT-341R4 - Interpretation Bulleting

Expenses of Issuing or Selling Shares, Units in a Trust, Interests in a Partnership or Syndicate and Expenses of Borrowing Money is now available on the CRA Website at the following address:

www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tp/it341r4/README.html
www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tp/it341r4/it-341r4-e.pdf

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The following News Release or Speech has just been posted on the Finance Canada Site.

Ottawa, February 23, 2007
2007-017

The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, announced today that with the recent passage into law of all Budget 2006 tax measures, Canadian fishers can now transfer their fishing assets to their children or grandchildren without having to pay capital gains or income taxes at the time of transfer. As well, fishers can now benefit from a $500,000 lifetime capital gains exemption if they sell their assets to anyone else.

“This measure further demonstrates our government’s commitment to tax fairness and supporting our resource industries,” said Minister Flaherty. “Removing the tax liability faced by fishers provides immediate assistance to ease transfers of fishing property from one generation of fishers to another and enables fishers to enjoy the same capital gains tax exemptions available to farmers and small business owners.”

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The following Fiscal Monitor has just been posted on the Finance Canada Site.

Highlights

December 2006: budgetary surplus of $1.2 billion

There was a budgetary surplus of $1.2 billion in December 2006, up $0.3 billion from the $0.9-billion surplus in December 2005. Budgetary revenues rose $1.4 billion, or 7.6 per cent, due to strong growth in personal and corporate income tax revenues as well as non-tax revenues, dampened by declines in other revenue streams, particularly excise taxes and duties. Program expenses increased by $0.8 billion, or 5.5 per cent, reflecting increases in transfer payments and departmental operating expenses. Public debt charges were up $0.3 billion.

April to December 2006: budgetary surplus of $7.3 billion

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The following News Release or Speech has just been posted on the Finance Canada Site.

Ottawa, February 22, 2007
2007-015

The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, is pleased to announce that the entire $26-billion tax relief package included in Budget 2006 is now law, thereby guaranteeing its benefits for Canadian families, students, workers and seniors. The final budget bill, Bill C-28, has received Royal Assent.

“Canada’s New Government has made significant progress in reducing the tax burden on Canadians, but even with the passage of the budget bill, taxes are still too high,” said Minister Flaherty. “We are developing Budget 2007 with an eye towards providing additional tax relief for all Canadians. Our ultimate goal is to make Canada a global leader in this area by achieving a competitive tax advantage.”

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Since I’ve upgraded to the latest wordpress version 2.1 (which apparently isn’t the latest, as now there is a version 2.1.1 out) .. I am sick and tired of the way that they combined all of my LINKS with my CATEGORIES and now call them BOOKMARKS or BLOGROLL. I’ve got a lot of links (you can click the link on top of my header graphic or in my Page section) but I’ve also got a lot of categories.

As such, it began to become an eyesore looking at these two combined features into one under my Categories section in my sidebar .. so I’ve deleted that section!

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The following is now available on the CRA Web site:

Did you know…

That individuals can claim a non-refundable tax credit for public transit passes? You will be able to claim the cost of buying a monthly (or longer duration) pass for commuting on buses, streetcars, subways, commuter trains and local ferries for this proposed non-refundable tax credit.

You can claim the full amount paid for a public transit pass, or for the cost of passes for multiple transit systems, for the amounts you have paid for travel that occurred after June 30, 2006. You can include the cost of passes for yourself, your spouse or common-law partner or your children under age 19.

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The following News Release or Speech has just been posted on the Finance Canada Site.

Ottawa, February 20, 2007
2007-014

The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, will table the second budget of Canada’s New Government on March 19, 2007. The Minister will present it in the House of Commons at approximately 4 p.m. EDT that day.

“In this budget, Canada’s New Government intends to take a fair and principled approach to fiscal balance, as proposed in the discussion document Restoring Fiscal Balance in Canada, which we released with Budget 2006,” said Minister Flaherty. “We will deliver on our commitment to hard-working Canadians and their families to put money back in their pockets by further reducing taxes.”

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* aka AMUSING PICTURES ADDED 2007-02-20 … Which one do you think is the funniest? Click on each picture for the original size ..

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GEEESSSHHHH! It’s frustrating enough to wake up and wonder if anybody is reading your blogs, but even more so to waking up and seeing if your template is back to the default theme.

I apologize to my readers who also had to endure this, if it affected the functionality of this blog, in addition to the 1-800-HART’ish look and feel that has existed.

Here’s the reason I was worried the most: Is someone hacking into my site?

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