Calgary police warn Calgarians not to fall victim to tax scams

With another tax season complete, scammers are now trying to trick Calgarians by pretending to be the Canada Revenue Agency. If they are calling about a refund, scammers will call people saying that they need personal and financial information in order to return the money owed. If they owe unpaid taxes, they’ll ask for payment via prepaid credit cards, gift cards or wire transfer.

Calgary Police are warning people to be aware of this scam, and to call them on 403-266-1234 if they have lost money or feel threatened by scammers. Police have stressed that Revenue Canada will not ask for this type of information nor ask Canadians to pay them in that way.

Read more: Calgary police warn Calgarians not to fall victim to tax scams

Personal Investor: Year-end RRSP and TFSA tax ‘gotchas’

There are three potential tax gotchas that can catch TFSA as well as RRSP investors by surprise. One is if you are in the ten percent of TFSA holders who use the maximum allowable amount every year and you also made a withdrawal in the year 2017, then you’ll need to wait until 2018 to gain that contribution space again. Another way is if you turned 71 in 2017, then you have until December 31st to make a final contribution before converting it into a RRIF. Finally, if you contributed to a spousal RRSP and your spouse plans to make a withdrawal by 2020, then you’ll need to contribute before December 31 because the contributor will be taxed on withdrawals made within three years.

Read more: Personal Investor: Year-end RRSP and TFSA tax ‘gotchas’