Why Canada must simplify the tax code + MORE Feb 22nd

Mark Milke is the author of Tax Me I’m Canadian: A Taxpayer’s Guide To Your Money and How Politicians Spend It.
One of the first moves by Justin Trudeau’s government in late 2015 was to signal to savers this message: Forget about saving; the government will take care of you. The new government telegraphed this by reducing the amount Canadians could stash in their Tax Free Savings Account by nearly half. The TFSA annual contribution limit was chopped to just $5,500 (from $10,000 in 2015). The federal government soon thereafter announced Canada Pension Plan premiums would rise, as of 2019. The direction was clear: High-cost, interventionist government was back in vogue, if it ever left.
Readers might be Liberal, Conservative, or a member of the resurrected Rhinoceros party; partisan identities don’t matter to taxpayers and savers (the same people, incidentally, if politicians need the reminder).  What does count is if actions taken by a government make it easier for Canadians to save: For their kids’ next amateur sports adventure, the family summer holiday or their own retirement…

One of the first moves by Justin Trudeau’s government in late 2015 was to signal to savers this message: Forget about saving; the government will take care of you. The new government telegraphed this by reducing the amount Canadians could stash in their Tax Free Savings Account by nearly half. The TFSA annual contribution limit was chopped to just $5,500 (from $10,000 in 2015). The federal government soon thereafter announced Canada Pension Plan premiums would rise, as of 2019. The direction was clear: High-cost, interventionist government was back in vogue, if it ever left.
Readers might be Liberal, Conservative, or a member of the resurrected Rhinoceros party; partisan identities don’t matter to taxpayers and savers (the same people, incidentally, if politicians need the reminder).  What does count is if actions taken by a government make it easier for Canadians to save: For their kids’ next amateur sports adventure, the family summer holiday or their own retirement.
By this measurement, Canadian governments are failing, by making saving more difficult…

(Flickr)
Q: I am considering retiring early (at 55) and based on advice from my financial planner, I can rather easily do so, primarily based on our assets, lack of any debt, and my wife’s existing defined benefit pension plan.
He suggests converting my pension and RRSP holdings into a RRIF. My concern with that is should something happen to the company, can the value of a RRIF be protected or insured? Is there any way of structuring a RRIF to allow for better protection?
I don’t want to see my life long savings disappear overnight.
—Roland
A: Congratulations on your potential early retirement, Roland. There are a few considerations as it relates to the stability of your retirement savings.
First off, whether your retirement savings are in an Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) or a Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) likely won’t make a difference. The decision to convert your RRSP to a RRIF is more of an administrative one if your plan is to withdraw from the account every year going forward…

Aaron Wudrick is the federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation.
Are you paying all the tax you’re legally required to pay—and if not, is that okay?
That’s the question at the heart of the controversy over offshore tax havens, whereby mostly wealthy individuals structure their financial affairs to minimize their tax burdens. It’s a different question than issues around tax evasion—a black-and-white issue where the laws prohibiting it should be properly enforced, meaning the authorities should pursue violators and prosecute them as appropriate. By contrast, tax avoidance—where people use legal means to reduce the amount of tax they have to pay—is a much trickier subject. It primarily raises a moral question: is it wrong for people to try to legally minimize their tax burdens?
Large data leaks known as the Panama Papers in 2016 and Paradise Papers in 2017 have shed light on just how widespread the phenomenon of this aggressive tax planning is. These larger revelations may make the moral question appear easy to answer, but consider that every Canadian who makes a charitable donation or contributes to a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) is also technically engaging in tax avoidance, albeit on a much smaller scale…