Keeping Records Outside of Canada

If you are carrying on business in Canada, the Income Tax Act requires that you keep your books and records in Canada.


That requirement includes both paper documents and electronically stored documents.  And BTW electronic records stored outside of Canada and accessed in Canada don't count.  The server should be in Canada.


What if you are carrying on business but don't live in Canada year round?


Well, CRA says that if you want to store your records outside of Canada, two things must happen.  The first is that you get permission from CRA.  This is done by writing to the local Tax Services Office.  The second is that you must make your records available in Canada on request.


The second part of the request can cause issues if you have a lot of records or if you need access to them where they are stored.  In that case, your company may be able to make arrangements for the CRA auditor to travel to the records - at your expense.

Webcasts versus podcasts

So....what is the difference between a webcast and a podcast.  Many people simply think of podcasts as the audio only program.  But, that is not quite correct.

According to PCMag, although originally podcasts were made for the ipod MP3 style listening devices (hence "pod"), they now may also include video.

What separates a podcast from a webcast is that, just like the radio broad"casts", they are in a syndication format.  Think of your RSS feeds being used for these.

Webcasts, on the other hand, is the live or delayed version of the sound or video broadcast.

Free Accounting from Simply

I always like free stuff.

If you are a small business, Simply Accounting now has a free Express version of their software.

OECD on Aggressive Tax Planning

According to the OECD (2011) Tackling Aggressive Tax Planning through Improved Transparency and Disclosure, OECD Publishing traditional audits alone may not be an effective way to obtain information on aggressive tax planning schemes. Canada is one of the many countries with mandatory early disclosure rules. Currently Canada has required disclosures on tax shelters and has also proposed requirements for reportable transactions.

The OECD report also concludes that having information that is timely and comprehensive is important both for tax policy and compliance. Having these targeted disclosure initiatives will benefit taxpayers in general.