Proposed new penalties for taxpayers

In the latest budget you may not have noticed, but tax preparers will be required as of January 1, 2013 to electronically file T1's and T2's or face a penalty.

Click this link to find the proposed changes and look for these section numbers for details:

S. 150.1 sets out requirements for e-file
S. 162(7.3) sets out the penalties, $25 for a T1 and $100 for a T2

What's of note is S. 162(2) which imposes a second further consequence of a failure to file a tax return of 10% of the unpaid tax plus 2% of the unpaid tax per month of default, not exceeding 20 months. That's on top of other penalties.