March 11th, 2007 Recommended Tax Books

It's that time again! Come down to any branch of the Thunder Bay Public Library or go on-line to www.tbpl.ca if you are working from home. Click on "Virtual Collection", then "Featured Sites", and choose either your library's resources or the Canada Revenue Agency Site.

Smart Tax Tips : winning strategies to reduce your taxes updated for 2007, over 160 tax and RRSP tips by Grant Thornton (leading firm of chartered accountants and business consultants) is the annual must-have for all Canadians interested in tax-reducing strategies. Tax tips include everything from alimony and asset transfers to RRSPs and charitable donations. This special updated edition features the 1% reduction in the GST rate, New Canada child tax benefit, non-refundable tax credit on monthly public transit passes, and new rules for the taxation of eligible dividends.

Tax Tips 2007 for Canadians for Dummies compiled by a group of skilled Canadian accounting professionals offers simple-to-use money-saving shortcuts that make doing your taxes a breeze. Answers to the five most commonly asked tax questions are supplied. Where do I file? When is my return due? What happens if I file late? Can I change my return if I find a mistake? Where can I get missing forms? Whether you're self-employed, planning for retirement, or filing your taxes for the first time, this useful guide provides strategies to assist you in planning for tax-time year round.

Make Sure It's Deductible : little-known tax tips for your Canadian small business by Evelyn Jacks, Canada's best-selling and most trusted tax author, presents important tax facts in a clear, friendly style, that's easy to read and apply to your business. This updated 3rd edition includes new ways to: maximize new tax brackets, rates, and tax-free zones for each family member; understand the new rules for deducting fines, tools, and other assets; take advantage of new perks for small business owners; minimize taxes and maximize social benefits; and utilize the new lower corporate tax rates and higher small business deductions. Jacks addresses these issues in a way the average person can understand.

Live it up Without Outliving Your Money : 10 steps to a perfect retirement portfolio by Paul Merriman shows you how to create and maintain the perfect retirement portfolio. From determining what assets have the highest probability of giving you the returns you need, to controlling taxes and expenses, the simple strategies out-lined will help you in your portfolio. This guide will motivate you to get into action and improve your situation, allow you to tailor a financial plan that takes into account the right amount of risk for you, provide useful tools to keep your emotions from derailing your investments, examine multiple strategies for withdrawing money once you've retired, and help you find and hire a financial advisor whose interests are the same as yours. If you want to make sure your golden years aren't your lean years, invest your time in this book.

101 Tax Secrets for Canadians : smart strategies that can save you thousands! by Tim Cestnick offers 101 tips for year-round tax planning. From brand new changes to the tax rules, to little-known strategies, Cestnick reveals the smart tips and advice that can save taxpayers from all walks of life thousands of dollars on their tax bill. Whether you are an employee or self-employed, a student, a retiree, an investor, single or part of a family, there are tax-saving tips for you in this book. Personal tax rates and tax credits were changed in the 2006 federal budget, affecting every tax-paying Canadian. And the new universal child care benefit was introduced, providing all families with $1,200 per year for each child under age 6. Check this out for many more "secrets."

If you aren't really up to working on your tax returns, try Susan Dunlop's witty, mystery novel Death and Taxes. It's April, the streets are empty, with taxpayers holed up with receipts and deduction
schedules. Homicide detective Jill Smith is on her way home when she stops to help out a fellow officer standing over the motionless body of the most feared and hated auditor for the Internal Revenue Service. Smith unravels a mystery as baffling as a 1040 tax form.

"Isn't it appropriate that the month of the tax begins with April Fool's Day and ends with the cries of 'May Day!'" - Robert Knauerhase

Jo-Anne Agostino is Public Services Assistant