If you don’t mind, thanks for letting me continue shelling the mail that I started yesterday, otherwise I won’t get through…
Hélène begins to lose patience.
His accountant filed his tax return on April 15th. She received her tax refund from Quebec long ago, but the one from Ottawa is long overdue. Every time she asks the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) for an explanation, she gets a different, always unsatisfactory answer. When she looks at her file on the Canada Revenue Agency’s website (My Account), it says ‘pending’.
“Once I withdraw money once, I pay more in installments every month. If we owe them money, it doesn’t take long before we get the bill. What do you think I should do? »
No doubt something is wrong. If the declaration had been submitted electronically, the notice should have been issued two weeks later. By post, the treatment extends over eight weeks. Four months passed there.
According to accountant Simon Elliott, while such delays are not normal, they are not exceptional. They can be caused by several factors, for example, when claiming certain tax credits that require additional confirmation (disabled person’s tax credit, high medical expenses tax credit, etc.).
Installment payment in question
He suspects that our reader has a problem with installment payments.
“It is quite possible that the delay is caused by a discrepancy between the amount of the installments paid, which is stated in the statement, and the amount that appears on the CRA’s file,” explains the accountant, who pointed out an error indicates. Under these conditions, the file would be automatically blocked.
Simon Elliot recommends calling the Canadian tax authority back and asking for an expedited processing of the file.
“We’re off peak hours, it’s easier to speak to an agent. The CRA now provides real-time wait times on its website in the contact information section. »
Here is the address: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/organization/contact.html
Moral of the story: Don’t make more deposits than required.
Differences in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
Yves recognized that Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) of the same market index can have different returns.
“An index fund should replicate the index. The return should therefore be similar from provider to provider,” concludes our reader.
However, by manipulating data on the Disnat platform, he found significant differences between funds tracking the US stock market’s main index, the S&P 500. Over a 10-year period, the latter increased by 201%. The iShare ETF (XSP) returned 185%, the BMO ETF (ZSP) returned 276% and the Horizons ETF (HXS) returned 351%!
what is the explanation
I asked the specialist on the subject Raymond Kerzérho.
“These are more different products than meets the eye,” begins the lead researcher at PWL Capital, a portfolio management firm.
iShare’s XSP Fund is a Canadian fund that invests in the S&P 500 on a currency-hedged basis. The ETF contains a mechanism that aims to smooth out fluctuations between the greenback and the loonie. “Converted to Canadian dollars, the return is largely wiped out by hedging,” explains Raymond Kerzérho.
BMO’s ZSP has no such coverage. The expert points out that the product hasn’t been around for 10 years, so you can’t rely on the 10-year performance shown.
Horizons’ HXS ETF is also unhedged, and its performance reflects the US dollar’s appreciation against the loonie. “According to my data, the S&P 500 is outperforming the HXS fund in Canadian dollars. The difference results from management fees,” says the expert.
In its flyer, Horizons states that it will capture the total return of the S&P 500 Index through the purchase of derivatives (“swap” contracts). I’ll spare you the details, but the company claims its method is tax-friendly and offers better returns. “Could that be the reason for this discrepancy? asks reader Yves.
Raymond Kerzérho insists the gains were inflated by the appreciation of the US dollar and not by the use of derivatives.
The Tree, the sequel
Earlier this summer, I shared with you the sadness my neighbors and I felt after the loss of a mature tree in the backyard of our Montreal duplex. I ended this column by inviting you to give us recommendations on how to replace our Manitoba maple. I mostly received emails to dissuade us from planting honey locusts, an idea I had mentioned. “Too much trouble! We then thought of a plastic Christmas tree.
In the end, we chose an essence that nobody offered us: an olive tree from Bohemia. It was my neighbor who found the best word to describe it: romantic.