taxdetective-Sandusky-Register

This is very odd.  My husband, a teacher, received a letter addressed to him, from the Outreach Project Manager in the BC Ministry of Finance this week. It's about how to consult with PST specialists.

This is very odd. He's never been a registrant and he's definitely not an accounting professional. I wonder if all the teachers in BC received this letter, or somehow I've morphed in to his name in their files by some miraculous magic trick. Or, did they send the letter to the wrong list of people? It's funny, they don't seem to want to treat teachers as professionals and definitely don't want to pay them as professionals, they must have slipped up.

The letter informs him that professionals will be able to contact PST Tax Specialists by calling toll free 1 877 388 4440 or by email CTBTaxQuestions@gov.bc.ca

He can also request a consultation with a ministry tax specialist by requesting on a form a www.sbr.gov.bc.ca/ctb/ask_a_tax_specialist.htm

Someone will contact him directly. It says he can find out more at www.PSTinBC.ca and subscribe to what's new page at www.sbr.gov.bc.ca/msbr/whats_new?consumer_taxes/whatsnew.htm

I suggested he call or email now, as every teacher in the province likely received this letter and of course,  is interested in how PST works. They'll all want to know is whether school supplies will once again be exempt from tax and whether kids clothing will qualify as exempt. And bicycle safety gear, that's high up on the list of concerns. After all they can't afford gas, so riding a bike to school is more affordable and tax free safety gear just makes sense.

Registration starts January 2, 2013 and apparently the registration process with be eTaxBC, which will include online registration, filing of returns and payments, as well as account maintenance.

I told him not to worry, I don't think teachers will have to register, but of course he's so sure that the politicians in BC have such a hate on for teachers that anything is possible. BCGEU get a 4% raise over two years and teachers get nada, zip, nothing. I'd like to know, do students who hated school become politicians just to get back at teachers?

Maybe they'll make teachers charge PST to the kids for free lunches, you know, all those power bars that I send with him to school to give away in his classroom.  I guess I better stock up and send more food with him for the kids, since he just told me the VSB took away the free lunches, or at least restricted them and let go a bunch of staff that used to provide free lunches in the DTES because an accounting firm told the VSB this was the way to save money. 

I'm sure hoping that accountants don't have to register for PST either... Sigh... guess I better start reading up.

Recently the question about tutoring has come up and I thought I'd share some work that Claudette Laroque, the communications expert on staff at LDAC and I co-authored in 2011. Claudette and I served on the Disability Advisory Committee to advise CRA about disability administration from 2005 to 2010.

www.ldac-acta.ca

1. to remedy basic academic skills notably reading, spelling, written expression and mathematics when the delay in acquisition of basic academic skills is secondary to specific learning disabilities.

2. to remedy deficits and maximize strengths in the learning disabilities profile including organizational strategies, study skills, time management, coordination activities, social skills training, strategies to improve attention, memory, reasoning, logic, communication, and non-verbal visual-perceptual abilities.

1. tutoring services are supplemented to the individual's primary education;
2. a medical practitioner prescribes in writing that the individual is a person who because of a learning disability requires the tutoring services to supplement the individual’s primary education and;
3. a letter from the school principal/resource teacher confirming the diagnosis of learning disabilities, and the need for tutoring services to supplement the child’s education;
4. a letter from the tutoring business certifying that the child is in receipt of tutoring services because of his learning disability along with starting date and a detailed description of the child’s program with the tutor related to his/her learning disabilities;
5. tutoring is provided by someone ordinarily engaged in the business of providing tutoring services to the public and is not related to the patient.

(l.8) for reasonable expenses (other than amounts paid to a person who was at the time of the payment the individual’s spouse or common-law partner or a person under 18 years of age) to train the individual, or a person related to the individual, if the training relates to the mental or physical infirmity of a person who



(l.9) as remuneration for therapy provided to the patient because of the patient’s severe and prolonged impairment, if






(l.91) as remuneration for tutoring services that are rendered to, and are supplementary to the primary education of, the patient who

Harper highlights all the tax credit programs (click to access the press release) that could help families with back to school.

Not a bad refresher in case you'd forgotten about tax credits and students.

The one they forgot to mention? Moving...but CRA does have it on their student page...

Moving Expenses for students to / from university or college can be tricky and easy to forget about...

And sometimes in the thick of it all, with no income, you don't think to make the claim because there's no income in the year, but remember those moving expenses carry forward to be used when there is income to use them against.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/students/

Print out T1M forms now while it's still fresh on your mind, and remember to complete one for each time there's a move.

I promised answers to the questions that were asked today during the webinar on Master Quicken Software Overview, at least those that were not answered during the workshop.

I managed to grab a snapshot before the workshop shut down, and I think I caught all the questions, but if not, or you need more information, or want a private consult, I can be bought...well, maybe not bought, but hired for an online consult on using Quicken...we can meet online using GoToMeeting.

email me @ eileen@taxdetective.ca or call me at 604-943-7414

Q: Can you import Microsoft Money into Quicken? Are there issues?
A: Yes, it appears you can, but I haven't tried it.  Under the File > File Import, Microsoft Money is listed. There are instructions and it looks like they address the issues in Quicken's Help. When I first started using QuickBooks, I exported my Quicken files for small business over to QuickBooks (that was back when QuickBooks was version 2)

Q: Is there a difference between Quicken and QuickBooks Pro?
A: QuickBooks Pro doesn't have an Investment module. QuickBooks has an inventory module and it's possible to track ACB using the Inventory Items but there's no way to account for FMV and Comprehensive Income reporting requirements for unrealized gains and losses net of tax

Q: If you are a ProAdvisor, how can you reach the ProAdvisor Team to get your copy of Quicken?
A: Look on your letter that comes with your membership to find the phone number to call them.  I really don't want to post that number in the blog.  Email me if you can't find it.

Q: What's the link to purchase your eBook?
A: You'll find a link to purchase the recording of this presentation and the e-book and case study here: http://www.taxdetective.ca/quicken.html

There's discounts, if you are an IPBC member, so log in as a member to www.ipbc.ca and then select Join IPBC > Our Partners and click on my Logo on the partner page to open my partner page.  At the bottom of my partner page, you'll find a link to 50% off products I've co-produced with IPBC and a 10% off products I produced on my own. The recording is on the 50% off page, and the eBook/Case study called Laying Tracks is on the 10% off page.

Q: If you are a ProAdvisor who has the 2011 version of Quicken, can you get the 2012 version of Quicken?
A: I did, again contact the ProAdvisor team at their number found on your ProAdvisor letter (look for your QuickBooks disks, it's with the disks)

Q: How about accounting for Options trading?
A: I've done that once or twice and yes, it's possible.

Remember that if someone is doing serious trading they may have a business, and their income may not be on account of capital.

Q: How about puts and calls?
A: That's a type of Options trading.
I went looking for a good description in Google because not everyone will know what puts and calls are and found this:
http://daytrading.about.com/od/daytradingglossary/g/OptionsCallPut.htm
Basically you're buying something on contract before you are buying something, so yes, you might have to play around with which investment transactions you use and there is also a Short Sale / Cover Short Sale transaction type.
When it comes to accounting for investments, you're really following the money, and at times, when there is no money, like when you are assigned a change in ACB, there's income to record, but no money. I'll show you how to handle that in January or you can buy my eBook/Case Study now, or hire me to consult if you prefer.

Q: How would you handle a TFSA if it was in a self-directed stock account?
A: The same way I'd handle an RSP in a self-directed account. I'd set up a TFSA account, and start buying, recording income and expenses and sales.

Q: Marcel tells us he's been using Quicken since the 90's primarily for investment and loves it.
A: Marcel I've accounted for millions in portfolios with US currency too, and day traders with multiple identical properties in a variety of accounts held by various taxpayers.  It's possible with a little imagination to be very creative and I've never met an investment I couldn't account for yet in Quicken.

Q: In January, 2013, will you please cover US funds vs CDN funds in investments and expenses
A: I will for sure.  Between now and then, I and several others discovered it's best to use a clearing account to move funds in and out of foreign investment accounts if you're going to attempt it on your own.

Q: How do you keep track of investments that are done by an investment manager such as Investors Group? The person makes monthly payments into Investor's Group and they manage the mutual funds..
A: This is the perfect way to actually figure out whether or not those mutual funds are making money.  I recommend you find out whether they are units or shares, because if they are shares, you can trade between funds without incurring gains until you sell outside the group of funds.  One of my articles, Hot Tips for Mutual Funds in Canadian Money Saver covers off how this works.
 http://www.canadianmoneysaver.ca/authors/eileen-reppenhagen
You can record it either way, depending on the legal structure in Quicken, basically you decide if you want to record gains or not.

I will cover that in January 2013 in the 4 part series hosted by IPBC.  You can register for that series online at www.ipbc.ca when they post the webinars.

Need more information about the services I offer specific to mastering Quicken software?
http://www.taxdetective.ca/growyournetworth.html

And... if you're wondering how to ask your clients all the questions you need answered?

I have the perfect solution and it's cheap, only $3.95!

Click here to view the WorkBook (oh come on, do it, this is actually fun to see the pages flip)
and then...
Click here to purchase 24 Word fillable forms, an easy-to-complete, user friendly workbook

Some bookkeepers have bought copies for all of their clients and give them away for Christmas presents, so contact me offline by email if you want a bulk price! We can talk turkey.

Why bother with keeping score on your finances?

Register now!

I've been hoarding this e-Book and case study about using Quicken software for way too many years, thinking I'd get around to re-writing it.  The truth is that would be so boring for me as not much has changed, other than we've seen the addition of TFSA's.

So today, I've posted it up for sale for $9.99 and for IPBC members, they should find a link to get 10% off later today or tomorrow.

On Thursday, I'm doing an overview of using Quicken software for www.ipbc.ca and if you haven't already signed up, this is the link to find the webinar to register.