Friday News Roundup 20.11.13: Liberal MP FCPA, the CRA and CCC, payroll complexity and more

TORONTO, Nov. 13, 2020 – As Canadians ponder what a Joe Biden presidency will mean to Canada — and Donald Trump refuses to be branded a “loser” — it was easy to miss the odds and ends from this week’s news in the world of Canadian accounting: 

FCPA Liberal MP leaves caucus over ethics

Liberal MP Yasmin Ratansi, FCGA, FCPA has left the Liberal caucus after admitting violations of parliamentary rules. As reported by the CBC, the longtime representative for the Don Valley East riding in Toronto employed her sister for three years as a constituency assistant, hiding her identity after nepotism rules were changed. 

The CBC followed that report with allegations that Ratansi regularly mistreated her staff, created a "toxic and verbally abusive" environment at her office, and made racist statements about her constituents. Ratansi was first elected to office in 2004 and was the first Muslim woman to sit as an MP. 

Forensic accounting of Canada Christian College

Forensic Accountant Charles Smedmor, CPA, CA of Smedmor & Associates in Toronto was invited by the Toronto Star to review financial filings of Canada Christian College, a registered charity. The ruling Conservatives of Ontario want accredit the college as a post-secondary institution that can issue bachelor degrees. 

The issue in question are unsecured loans from the College to the president and his son. The Ontario NDP is asking the Canada Revenue Agency to review the charitable status of the college. 

Firms on the move: Baker Tilly Niagara, MNP Quebec

Baker Tilly Canada has announced a new office in Niagara to better serve clients in southern Ontario. The new Baker Tilly Niagara office will be led by partner Brent Penner, CPA, CA, a former senior tax manager with more than 10 years experience in the Greater St-Catharines-Niagara Metropolitan Area at Deloitte Canada. 

And MNP continues its recent streak of mergers by welcoming KBHNS LLP, a bilingual chartered professional accounting firm based in Ville Saint-Laurent, Québec, into its national network. The firm provides a wide range of accounting, tax and advisory services to private enterprise companies in diverse industries throughout Greater Montreal. 

Payroll complexity a “significant obstacle” to economic growth

A new report released from PwC Canada, commissioned by the Canadian Payroll Association, shows that payroll complexity is a significant obstacle to business innovation, growth and expansion in Canada. According to “The Cost of Employer Compliance and Public Policy Implications,” the annual cost of payroll compliance to Canadian employers is estimated to be $12.5 billion, but the full costs to the economy is likely higher. 

“At a time when we can least afford it, the labyrinth of legislative requirements governing payroll is impeding our economy’s growth — forcing Canadian businesses to invest billions of dollars and thousands of hours just to be compliant,” says Peter Tzanetakis, President of the Canadian Payroll Association. “It’s troubling that the economic recovery of Canada, its businesses and people, might be hindered by compliance requirements that are actually fixable.” 

Sage Business Cloud Accounting now integrates with TaxCycle

TaxCycle, the tax preparation solution developed by Calgary-based Trilogy Software, now integrates with Sage Business Cloud Accounting platform. According to a press release this week: “The integration enables TaxCycle users to automatically populate sole proprietor, corporate, and partnership returns with data from Sage Business Cloud Accounting, and Sage Business Cloud Accounting customers to fill in TaxCycle data with a single click. 

“With TaxCycle integrated into the Sage ecosystem, Sage Business Cloud Accounting customers can now run a completely paperless practice from data entry to tax filing.” 

By Canadian Accountant staff.