tou found. the 1988 tax return quite a challenge to
complete, you are in good company.

' past filing :cason, Revenue
Minter Otto Jelinek did his own
tax return for the first time in sev-
- eral years.* And he, . like’ ai other
‘Canadians, ran up against the
results of tax reform.

“I guess | scored fair to good,”’
said Jelinek in an interview. ‘‘i had
sthe accountants check what I had
‘done and they made corrections in
a couple of areas."”

Jelinek said his involvement in
-his family’s sporting . goods
business plus his investments
probably meant his tax return was
“more complicated than the average
Canadian’ Ss.

get, and use every suggestion that
has merit.”

The 48-year-old minister admit-
ted he-was a bit apprehensive
about the new tax return when he
took over the Revenue Canada
portfolio last January. Canadians
were just getting their first look at
the new forms, which combined
some of the previous system of
deductions with the more
widespread use of tax credits pro-
duced by tax reform.

viser, Mike will respond to readers’
questions and story ideas through
the paper.

Write to Mike Grenby, Money
Columnist, North Shore News,

Yet the filing season went quite , # 5

smoothly, with little difference
from previous years, Jelinek said.

“Most of the mistakes this time
were in arithmetic,"’ he said. ‘‘Be-
ing new to the job, I found it in-
credible to sce how many mistakes
there were. Fortunately, we now
have a more sophisticated com-
puter system which catches and
corrects the errors more quickly.”’

Jelinek said he can't promise
Canadians a simple tax return, on-
ly a simpler one.

“We have a complex tax
system,’ he said. ““The first step is
recognizing the problem. We've

* done that and now we are doing '

ae something about it.’’.

‘: Jelinek said there’ has been iittle |
. change in the ‘level-of unreported
_‘income, ‘the so-called underground

economy...

He said his department will con- -

ae oy tinue to focus its audit ‘efforts in

_areas likely to produce the greatest J
recovery of tax, typically large

corporations rather than ordinary

- "individuals.

-'+ But. at- t- least. his: experience. has

‘given him a personal ° as. well ‘as.
ministerial interest'in what he has-

decided will be one of Revenue

Canada’s major projects for the
‘coming year: trying to simplify
‘every aspect of the tax return.

“If I have one priority, it will be
to try to make the forms, guides
and processes simpler,” Jelinek

said.

“We want to simplify the lan-
guage. We want to provide tables
to show what calculations: must
take place. We want to expand the

- color coding and examples so peo-
ple can see at a glance what they
have to do.

“We are planning pilot projects
as we go along to make sure we are
going in the right direction.”

’ And Jelinek wants to hear di-
rectly from you if you have any
comments or suggestions that
would help with the simplification
process. Write to him — you don’t
even need a stamp: Otto Jelinek,
Minister of National Revenue,
House of Commons, Ottawa, On-
tario K1A 0A2.

“T have set up a special section
in my office to work on simplifica-
tion,’’ said Jelinek. ‘‘So far, six
people are dealing with this area,
and I am prepared to commit more
if necessary.

“We will look at every letter we

: NORTH VANCOUVER 986-0388

Jelinek said he will also resurrect. 3

the Declaration of Taxpayer
Rights, which was introduced four
years ago by. Perrin Beatty, then
Revenue minister.

This document reaffirmed every
taxpayer’s right to information,
right to impartiality, right to
courtesy and consideration and
presumption of honesty.

“Another of my priorities will
be to bring the Declaration of
Taxpayer Rights to the forefront
internally,’’?’ Jelinek said. ‘‘We
cannot and must not move away
from those principles. We have to
be constantly vigilant in our work,
but we are not going back to the
days when taxpayers were harass-

»”»>

We will never enjoy paying
taxes. But if Jelinek is successful in
reaching his objectives of remin-
ding Revenue Canada personnel to
be humane as well as human, and
of making the tax return and ac-
companying material easier to un-

derstand and use, he will have ©

NOATH VAN

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