"di 54 -— Wednesday, November 30, 1988 - North Shore News BuSINESS Revenue Canada revs up for Xmas season I KNOW it isn’t exactly what you had in mind for a holiday or even a New Year’s present. But Revenue Canada is pro- mising to send out the personalized 1988 tax returns starting Dec. 15. You might get a bigger package than in the past. But this is a gift you probably won’t be too thrilled to receive. Even if Santa Revenue misses you this month, rest assured you are still on his list. The mailout will continue until the end of January. Non-personalized returns should be available at tax and post offices in February. When I first saw the new 1988 Ti tax return — considerably changed because of tax reform — I was relieved. There are many simi- larities to previous years’ returns so I felt most people would still be able to work their way through on their own. But now that I have seen more of the supporting material and re- quired calculations, I’m not so sure as many will choose the do- it-yourself route. Take capital gains, for example. Making profits on stocks, mutual funds, property and similar in- vestments is still one of the best approaches for many people — especially if you can claim the cap- ital gains exemption. But doing the paperwork on your tax return is going to be one of the worst chores. In the past, you had to complete Form $57 to claim your capital gains deduction. This was one side of an 8.5 by 14-inch sheet. For 1988, you must complete Greet Mere only webu tor deli cn wath Canthe inl fates 49, O89 Fieasover, Greet More stamps Gan be used on ordintn cavelopes by simply ddan Form T657-E. That’s obviously “*E”’ for ‘extended’? — to twice the length. This form now takes up both sides of the same sheet with up to dollars and sense Michael Grenby 88 lines to fill in. Most people won’t have to complete ali seven parts, but you should still be prepared for a time-consuming and complex exercise. And even though you end up paying no tax on your capital gain, you do have to complete the form to record both the gain and your The wwOURTaL stan ips NeCder tothe Gp Ue COnTe CE postage rate: claim for the offsetting deduction. (By the way, Santa Revenue won’t spoil your holiday by in- cluding this capital gains form in your tax return package. You will have to get it from your local tax office after Jan. 1.) Thanks to sO many marriage breakups, figuring out who reports the family allowance for 1988 has now also become a major challenge. You almost need a flow chart to illustrate the six different routes you could follow, with a dozen “«questions to answer’’ stops along the way, to find out which person reports the family allowance. Here are some other tidbits to help make the upcoming filing season a little less taxing. At least if you know what to expect, you should be able to cope more easily. © If you claimed child-care ex- penses in 1987, you should automatically receive a copy of the new Child Care Expenses Guide. If you don’t, or if you will be claim- ing these expenses for the first time in 1988, contact your local tax of- fice. The guide should be available by February latest. e The rental income schedule and capital cost allowance form have been dropped and replaced by Form 7776 which will be included in the Rental Income Guide for 1988. You should get this guide with your T1 if you declared rental income in 1987 — but you might not receive one, if you had self- employed income higher than See Forms Page 55 INTEREST IN OUR T-BILL SAVINGS HAS REACHED A Ni | HIGH. 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