|
|
|||||
|
|||||
| Path: Main Street : Resources & Library : Research Articles : Feature Article |
Take advantage of all your tax exemptionsSeptember 19, 1995; Canadian FundRaiser
Is your organization paying too much in taxes? Tax specialist Robert S. Irwin tells us he finds that almost everyone does. Even the best-managed organizations, he says, fail to claim all their provincial sales tax, GST, EHT, Gas tax and UIC exemptions. Most charitable organizations are continually looking for alternative sources of funds, and Irwin points out that unclaimed tax exemptions provide an excellent opportunity to generate additional positive cash flow.
Tax management, says Irvin, is an area that should be reviewed by a tax specialist. While no accountant would put away their annual records knowing that there were unclaimed taxes, thousands of dollars in tax exemptions nonethless go unclaimed each year. For some organizations this can make the difference between being in the "black" versus the "red."
Charities can do their own claims and many do. However, others may neglect to prepare claims due to time constraints or lack of expertise in tax laws. Even when tax exemptions have been claimed, many times the claims do not take advantage of all the available exemptions. Again, time and limited knowledge in tax laws play a significant role in determining how effectively tax is managed.
When Irwin retired from the Retail Sales Tax field, he intended to prepare rebates for organizations he knew were not claiming all the exemptions that they could. If it worked, he thought, the service would be beneficial for both parties. Since then he has completed many rebates ranging in amounts from a few hundred dollars to over $ 100,000. Without the intervention of a tax specialist, he argues, most of this money would have been lost to the charity forever.
The charity really takes no risk. The specialist reviews the accounts, prepares the claim and submits it, monitors it until the rebate cheque is received and usually will not charge if there is no recovery. As Irwin puts it, "One of the hardest things that I have to do is make the first appointment. After that I am asked "When are you coming back?" Tax rebates have an eligible time period, he points out. The longer you wait, the less you can claim. You need to get started now.
For more information, call Robert S. Irwin, R.S.Irwin Tax Recovery Ltd., 24 Watersdown Crescent, Whitby, Ontario L1R 1Z1. (905) 721-9547 Fax: (905) 576-6339.
|
|||
