One Comment About Taxation – Canadians Deserve Less  Drama During “Tax Season” – Suggestions For Improvements

The mid-January blues…you have them yet?? If it helps to pull you out of them, here’s a gentle reminder that you have roughly 3.5 months to file your 2025 personal tax return. Awesome, eh? You can start getting all of your receipts and information together in a safe spot and get ready to give them to your tax preparer. Or, if you’re the DIY kind, you can start marking your calendar for the day you can buy the 2025 version of your tax software! All of this is exciting stuff!!

 

Roughly one-third of Canadians pay a professional to prepare their taxes, but according to Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) data, more than 60% of returns are filed by someone other than the taxpayer — including paid preparers, volunteers, or family members. In other words, a majority of Canadians don’t file their own return – even if they don’t always pay for help.

 

The overlying message here is that preparing your tax return is not easy. But it should be.  I’ve long been on record that filing one’s tax return for the average person should not be complex. The tiny Baltic country of Estonia provides a good model for this. There are many credible reports that it takes the average Estonian 3-5 minutes to complete and file their tax returns. Wouldn’t that be a great goal to move towards in Canada?

 

Despite years of signaling that the government wants to introduce automatic tax filing for simple tax filers and lots of fanfare about it in the 2025 budget, I’ll believe it when I see it.  It’s long been my position, despite opposition from some groups, that full automatic tax filing for those with simple tax affairs should be available in Canada. But the system needs to provide for a true version of it – not one that waits for the consent of affected taxpayers.

 

Compound the above with the fact that there is a shortage of accountants. In Canada, more than 220,000 Chartered Professional Accountants form one of the country’s largest professional bodies, yet the profession is under increasing strain. Employers across the country continue to report persistent challenges in attracting and retaining qualified accounting talent – a trend that’s particularly acute in public practice.

 

At the same time, many experienced practitioners are approaching retirement, and fewer young professionals appear to be pursuing careers in accounting. Combined with ever-growing compliance burdens and tax complexity, these pressures are converging into a capacity crisis that headline membership numbers don’t fully reveal.

 

And to top it all off, the past three tax filing seasons were met with confusion and uncertainty. The trifecta started in 2023 for the new Underused Housing Tax filings due for 2022. The new legislation was poorly drafted and expansive with non-compliance penalties starting at $5,000. It put tax filers into a very tough situation to try to ensure their clients complied.

 

In 2024, it was the new trust reporting requirements that were due for the 2023 year-ends for trusts. Such requirements included “bare trusts”. There was – and continues to be – significant confusion as to what a bare trust is for purposes of the filing requirements.  At the very last minute, the filing requirements were suspended but not after practitioners struggled mightily to ensure compliance.  Bare trusts will need to start filing again for the 2026 year.

 

The third mess was last year’s filing requirement for capital gains given the uncertainty of the inclusion rate increase proposals coming out of the 2024 federal budget. Such proposals were on life support at the beginning of 2025 for 2024 filings until late March 2025. The uncertainty was simply unnecessary and caused tax preparers fits trying to figure out how to ensure proper compliance.

 

So far, it looks like a quadfecta will not be coming this year for 2025 filings. But, hey, there’s still 3.5 months left until the deadline so let’s see what happens.

 

So, what’s the solution to all of these challenges – expensive and difficult to file, lack of automatic filing, declining numbers of accountants and tax preparers, and numerous tax filing debacles?

 

Here’s five suggestions to make tax filing season easier for Canadians and their advisors.

 

1. Fast-track a real automatic filing system – not a half-measure. If Estonia can deliver a pre-filled return in 5 minutes, so can we, eventually. Yes, CRA will need the legislative authority and technical commitment to move beyond limited poor pilots that enable filings without taxpayer consent. Such a system should provide for an opt-out, not opt-in. There are numerous other technical issues here but let’s get at it.

 

2. Simplify the tax system. It’s not just the paperwork and technology that’s broken – it’s the underlying complexity. Phase out ineffective tax credits, better align rules, and remove duplicative or unnecessary legislation (especially outright political tax measures). All of this should occur with a comprehensive tax reform commitment by government.

 

3. Launch a proper tax designation and pipeline strategy. It’s long past due for Canada to introduce a recognized tax specialist designation to differentiate those who actually know this stuff from those who dabble. Pair it with recruitment and education incentives to get more young professionals into the tax and accounting profession – especially in public practice.

 

4. Stop administering policy by press release. The capital gains debacle, UHT, bare trust mess and most recently the digital services tax repeal all prove that policy needs to be much better vetted before legislation goes to Parliament. Recognizing policy problems after the law exists and dealing with it by press release changes causes chaos.

 

5. Invest in the tax infrastructure – not just CRA headcount. CRA’s staff has grown by nearly 50% in the past decade, but service has arguably worsened. We need better systems, training, and support — not just more bodies or lame “100-Day Plans”.

 

Until we take the above seriously and take steps to fix the system, the mid-January blues will keep lasting well into May.

 

One Comment About Leadership – When Leaders Don’t Own Mistakes (And Everyone Knows It)

 

Leaders make mistakes. That’s not up for debate – it’s inevitable. And my goodness I’ve certainly made my fair share of mistakes. And continue to.

 

What separates good leaders from the rest, however, isn’t perfection. It’s how they handle being wrong.

 

Over the years, I’ve watched some leaders squirm, deflect, spin, or outright lie when they’ve messed up. And the kicker? Everyone around them knows it.

 

When a leader refuses to take ownership of a mistake, the consequences are real. Trust erodes. Respect diminishes. And culture suffers. People talk – quietly at first, then not so quietly. “He’s never wrong.” “She’ll never admit fault.” That’s the beginning of the end for credibility and trust.

 

It’s particularly damaging when the mistake is obvious to everyone else. If you’re the last one to admit it – or worse, never do – people won’t forget. Or forgive.

 

Contrast that with leaders who take it on the chin. “I was wrong. Here’s what I learned. Here’s what I’ll do differently next time.” That kind of leadership builds credibility.  Not weakness.

 

Nobody expects leaders to be perfect. But they do expect honesty. If you’re wrong, say so. If you’ve failed, own it. And if you’ve learned something, share it. That’s how respect is earned – and kept.

 

So, leaders, next time you screw up (and you will), ask yourself: Am I about to spin this? Or am I going to do the hard – and right – thing?

 

Because everyone’s watching. And they already know the answer.

 

One Comment About Economics / Politics  – Mainstream Media: Bias, Noise, and a Crisis of Credibility

 

For over fifteen years now, I’ve avoided watching mainstream television “news.” Why? Because most of it feels like a propaganda machine – heavy on opinion, light on fact. It’s disappointing. As a youngster, I used to look forward to watching twenty-two minutes of The National with Knowlton Nash at 10 p.m., followed by The Journal with Barbara Frum. My memories of those days are that the reporting was generally balanced and well done.

 

This past weekend, while visiting family and friends out of town, I found myself in a room with someone who still watches CTV News. Out of respect, I didn’t walk out of the room. I continued the visit, but my attention was pulled toward the screen for about ten minutes.

 

In that brief window, here’s what I saw:

 

• One story focused on how poorly a specific identity group was allegedly being treated by the rest of Canada – no nuance, just victimhood.

 

• Another segment warned farmers about small pools of water on Saskatchewan farmland that purportedly produces disproportionate amounts of carbon, thereby contributing to climate change. This was “confirmed” by a young reporter – who couldn’t have been more than 25 years old – interviewing a couple of academics from a particular university.

 

• Then, to round things out, the program speculated on how Mark Carney’s visit to China might secure a new “security agreement” with Beijing – a headline that speaks for itself.

 

That short viewing was enough. I became visibly agitated. This is what people across the country are passively absorbing – every day. Content like this isn’t “news” in any traditional sense. It’s narrative-driven, ideology-laced garbage disguised as journalism.

 

Here’s the hard truth: If Canada is going to move forward, we need more independent thinkers — not people passively accepting what’s piped into their living rooms. And that starts with questioning where we get our information. The days of thoughtful, old-school journalism are mostly gone. You won’t find it in the so-called mainstream media. If you’re looking, it’s in smaller, independent outfits: The Hub, Blacklock’s Reporter, reliable voices on X (formerly Twitter), and a handful of others.

 

If you’re still glued to the evening “news,” my suggestion is simple: turn it off. Seek out better sources. You’ll be exposed to far less bias, and a much higher quality of content. You’ll also be better equipped to understand what’s actually going on in this country.

 

Better sources lead to better thinking. And better  thinking leads to better choices – especially at the ballot box.

 

Bonus Comment – Quote From John C Maxwell – American Leadership Guru – About Leaders Owning Mistakes

 

“A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.”

 

Exactly. Owning mistakes is a great teacher.  And great leadership.

 

Hope you enjoyed this edition of 1-1-1. If you’re not already part of the In the Mood Network, now’s the time. Please sign-up today.  Whether it’s through consulting, coaching, speaking, or writing, my work is about planting acorns: deliberate, principled actions that challenge the status quo and grow into something far bigger. The goal? Bold reform. Stronger foundations. And a country that values hard work and common sense.