Tax News Updates
February 2022
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COVID-19 – Income Tax Drop-Off and Mail-In Service. WE CARE ABOUT YOU AND YOUR HEALTH, and THE HEALTH AND WELFARE OF OUR STAFF.
COVID-19 – Income Tax Drop-Off and Mail-In Service.
WE CARE ABOUT YOU AND YOUR HEALTH, and
THE HEALTH AND WELFARE OF OUR STAFF.
March 17, 2020
To Our Valued Customers,
In view of the current public health situation, we are informing you of alternative methods we will employ to help you with your tax filing, remotely or in person:
Tax Drop Off, Email OR Mail-In.
Over the years, we have had a great deal of success in providing customers with the option of dropping off or mailing in their tax information. Many customers take advantage of this service, usually those who have moved away but still prefer to have us prepare and file their income taxes. We have the same employees as last year with Roz, Wanda, Laura, Doreen and Sadie, and Tina of course in the lead position. With our present Coronavirus health challenge, we expect some of our Fort Mc Murray clients may prefer to simply drop off or mail in their tax papers and be phoned by one of our tax consultants.
If you have a preferred tax specialist, please indicate her name on your envelope and ask her to communicate with you at alternative times which suit you. This drop-off service will be available from 9am-9pm Monday to Friday and 9am-5pm, Saturday and Sunday.
You will basically go through the same process as coming in except you will be sitting in the comfort of your own home, comfortably dressed, and there will be no waiting. You would give the preparer a period of at least two hours over which to contact you. Once your process starts with a call from our preparer, she will have already started working on your taxes, perhaps even having obtained your T-slips through CRA, and she will have your partially completed paperwork in front of her.
You can also communicate via email, with each of the ladies having their email address as their first name followed by @pinkneyfinancial.com. We can also accept electronic payment for our services.
Call our office, 780-799-2330, for more information in regards to this process.
Healthy Environment –
For those who prefer to come down to the office, precautions we have taken include reducing seating in the lobby to ensure customers are not seated next to each other while waiting. Cathy our receptionist is a “super cleaner” who is constantly disinfecting, door handles, work surfaces, chairs, and our children’s play centre. Due to our relationship with EnviroClean we are also very fortunate to have an air purification system in the building, using a commercial machines to purify our air. Due to the noise factor these machines are on approximately twelve hours per day, when we are not in work mode.
Of course, if you have cold and/or flu symptoms, we strongly encourage you to use our mail or email/telephone preparation system for everyone’s comfort and safety.
As always, we are humbled to serve and live in a city like Fort McMurray where we know we will once again band together to get through these challenging times.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: See our our personal tax page.
March 23, 2020 – COVID-19 Additional Update
Good after noon clients and former clients of Pinkney Tax Services.
We would like to make you aware of our response to the above pandemic and recognizing your desire to complete your taxes, while respecting your health concerns as well as those of our staff.
Every year we have a considerable number of folks all the way from British Columbia to Newfoundland, wishing to continue dealing with us and our long term experienced employees, by email, courier and Canada Post. If you are considering such please remember that we have had zero staff turnover the past couple of years allowing you to once again specify your former preparer as your current preparer of choice, and we have experienced no problems with this approach in the past. Our preparer will deal with you by email, phone or both.
We are aware first hand that perhaps a couple thousand folks have just been laid off her in Fort Mc Murray and will want to get their taxes done if anticipating a refund. We want to do all possible to assist such folks quickly and efficiently as possible, hopefully in many cases the client receiving their refund within two weeks. If you know of anyone just laid off please let them know their tax returns will be a priority for us, if they choose to come in.
For those who wish to drop off we are effective immediately implementing some changes to our approach as follows. We will have clients not enter our back work area on the main floor, in order that we can keep it as clean as possible. We have turned our one office close to our entrance, into the intake room where you will be able to meet with the preparer face to face. The preparer will be wearing a mask and gloves to protect themselves and you. The preparer is to ensure there is a six foot distance between themselves and the client in the conference room, and there will be a wipe down of your chair and desk space upon your departure. Wanda and Doreen will be able to see clients in their downstairs offices, but upon your departure they must then wipe the chairs and desk area clean at the end of the each consultation. If a client wishes to use our washroom Cathy will be required to wipe it down immediately afterward. We have Lysol wipes we will be using and hand sanitizer, which clients will be asked to use if using our payment terminal.
Cathy our receptionist fortunately, is obsessed by the need for cleaning and the perfect person for this job, as she goes through multiple containers of Mr. Clean every year when here for the tax season. Her job is to be constantly cleaning. In addition we will have our heavy duty commercial hydroxyl machine running for fifteen hours of the day, ensuring our air is as clean as possible.
Our hours for the next couple weeks will be 8:30 am- 7:30 pm. If you slide in the door at 7:29 pm Wanda is authorized to stay on overtime to assist you.
The last thing I would like to take the opportunity to do is mention for those of you who can help there are many community organizations also about to suffer through this time. Among the Community Non-Profits we supported at Christmas time were the Food Bank, the SPCA, and the Centre of Hope where you find many of our homeless friends stopping for a meal. Organizations such as these always need our help but they will be facing special challenges at this time. We plan on making unsolicited donations to these organizations within the next week, and if you possibly can we would love to have you join us in supporting both our two footed friends and neighbours and our four footed friends and neighbours. Tell them you are part of the Pinkney team, but to make your tax deductible donation receipt out to yourself.
Thank you for your support in the past.
Wayne and Ryan Pinkney.
Hello Income Tax Clients (2020)
It is now that time of year when we are in full swing in a busy income tax season, we look forward to serving you!
We must remember that the TAX SCAMMERS will be back to work this season. Remember CRA NEVER PHONES demanding tax payments. Normally, most tax-payer communication is by mail. If you have ANY suspicious calls PLEASE CALL US and we will for no charge follow up with CRA on your behalf. Scammers will tell you to contact no one or things will be worse. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you rush to the bank to arrange payment for such callers, who may also ask for your VISA information. A former Fort Mc Murray RCMP sergeant is now in charge of such fraud for all of Canada and his department will likely assist us if necessary. If you receive such a call ask the SCAMMER for a phone back number and report it to us and we will pass it on to the RCMP fraud folks. When such numbers are shut down it is an inconvenience to the SCAMMERS, Sgt Al has told me.
If you have a child, parent or relative who is DISABLED living with you, you may be entitled to a CRA tax credit that many people are not aware of. We will check such out for you. Every year we have a handful of folks who we get a refund regarding such a situation and sometimes we can even assist them further by going back a few years and substantially increasing their refund. It costs you nothing to ask the question.
If you are missing a T-4, in many cases we can get such for you by going through CRA. CRA this year is making it easier for taxpayers to pay, and you do not even have to rush to the bank. This year in some cases if you request such your preparer will be able to give CRA authorization to take your payment direct from your bank account.
We can prepare taxes for all provinces except Quebec. We are also experienced with TERMINAL TAX RETURNS, which must be perfectly done. We highly recommend everyone having to look after the terminal tax return of a friend or relative, get professional assistance from us. An error in a terminal tax return can cause big problems down the road for family and/or beneficiaries.
Those with larger files such as small business, rental properties, stocks, medical claims, etc. do not need to wait until April 30 as we can do your return early, and then you pay without penalty as late as April 30 if you wish.
The selling of a PRIMARY RESIDENCE in 2016 must now be reported, so if that applies to you please ask your preparer for details.
Similar to past years, all tax clients will receive a $25 gift certificate to EnviroClean Drycleaners.
All of us at Pinkney Tax and Pinkney Financial look forward to seeing all of our old tax friends.
Call or visit us today to discuss your needs.
Pinkney Tax Services
Unit A, 9903 Franklin Avenue
Fort McMurray, AB T9H 2K4
780-799-2330
March 3rd, 2019
TAX FRAUD SCAM…
With the income tax season just underway we would like to make you aware that CRA and W-5 have joined together to do a special investigative report at 7 pm this Saturday night, March 4, focusing on the enormous Canadian income tax fraud, apparently headquartered in India. We know that over the past couple of years many Canadians have been contacted by this organized conspiracy and its workers, and we assume that once again this Spring this same group will be calling thousands of Canadian tax payers, including many here in Fort Mc Murray, and attempting to convince you to rush cash to them in order to keep yourself out of jail. We are sending out this special notice to our clients as we expect it may be a topic of interest to many of you, and that you would appreciate the opportunity to watch the program.
We once again wish to remind you that if you receive any demands for immediate payment by callers identifying themselves as CRA employees that you should be very suspicious. When they tell you the RCMP will be at your door within an hour to arrest you do not worry. CRA and the RCMP do not work in this manner. You can ask the caller for their name and call back number and call our office. We will provide no cost assistance to our clients, who may be concerned that these fraudsters are targeting them. If necessary we will quickly confirm with CRA if there is any concern with your account. I personally know of one person last year who was in the process of arranging immediate payment, when he talked to me by accident, and I talked him out of sending the prepaid credit card he had already purchased at their demand. They told him his young children would be left at home alone, if he did not immediately arrange for a babysitter, as the RCMP were being dispatched within an hour to pick him up and take him to RCMP headquarters. They will also tell you that if you contact anyone in regard to their call, that your penalty will be substantially larger, and the RCMP action more swift.
Remember if we do your taxes CRA will copy us if there are disputes with your account. Please contact us if you have any concerns.
Call or visit us today to discuss your needs.
Pinkney Tax Services
Unit A, 9903 Franklin Avenue
Fort McMurray, AB T9H 2K4
780-799-2330