Ira SmithTrustee & Receiver Inc. - Brandon's Blog
Consumer proposal process for a lottery winner? Why?Here’s a headline I’m sure you all remember – Three winners of the $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot. Here’s a headline you may have missed – The odds are that the US$1.5 billion Powerball winner will end up bankrupt (and if a Canadian, possibly a consumer proposal process).
We have previously written about surplus income in bankruptcy in our blogs:
On the list of items that generally seems to be difficult for many individuals to understand is how there can be surplus income in bankruptcy. The reason for the confusion is because it has nothing to do with the normal usage of the word “surplus”, being “more than what is needed or used; excess”.
Within a personal bankruptcy, the context is a measure of what a bankrupt has to pay to the Trustee month-to-month. It is one of the aims of the Canadian bankruptcy system to balance the discharge of one’s personal debt with the expectation of the creditors that they should be paid.
To allow Canadians to keep a basic standard of living during the personal bankruptcy procedure, the government features collection thresholds on income (after income tax as well as certain deductions) meant to enable the bankrupt to keep a basic standard of living while contributing an amount to the Trustee for the benefit of his or her creditors.
The surplus income payment is determined according to a prescribed surplus income calculation mandated by the federal government, without any distinction for the area somebody lives in. To learn exactly what your surplus income in bankruptcy obligation would be, if any, you need to speak to a Trustee.
Surplus income in bankruptcy thresholds are structured based on national “poverty line” stats and the thresholds are set regardless of what part of the country or city that you live in. Surplus income in bankruptcy has nothing to do with what you have left over in funds every month. It is a federal solution which takes your monthly after-tax wages or salary, allows for a specific number of non-discretionary expenses, and takes into account your family size. Your Trustee then inputs this information into the government mandated formula, to calculate your surplus income in bankruptcy obligation.
If you are an individual or company who needs to free themselves from the stress and strain of too much debt, and especially if you have been told your situation is hopeless, Ira Smith Trustee & Receiver Inc. can prepare and carry out the plan made just for you, to free you from the burden of your financial challenges to go on to live a productive, stress-free, financially sound life.
If you’re experiencing serious debt issues with the CRA, or for any reason, contact a professional trustee for a free, no obligation consultation. The Ira Smith Team does not try to write new insolvency law or tax law. Rather, we will evaluate your situation within the existing statutes, and help you to arrive at the best possible solution for your problems, whether that solution is a bankruptcy alternative like credit counselling, debt consolidation or a consumer proposal. Starting Over, Starting Now you can be debt free with the help of a professional, licensed trustee in bankruptcy. Contact us today.
Average student loan debt is getting out of control. Post-secondary education is effectively a need for today’s labour market. According to the Canadian Federation of Students in its paper titled: “The Impact of Student Debt”, unfortunately, since the demand for education has inflated, public funding did not keep up. Public funding shortfalls have resulted in the increased cost of post-secondary education being borne by students.
From 1990 to 2014, the national average tuition fees have seen an inflation adjusted increase of over one hundred and fifty per cent (150%). In Ontario, tuition fees have grown over one hundred and eighty percent (180%). For most students—often having spent very little time active within the workforce, other than for part-time work—funding their education has become more and more troublesome.
Many students are now taking on increased levels of debt for their education. Students requiring a Canada Student Loan currently graduate with an average student loan debt of over $28,000. Keep in mind that this is an average, with the costs of graduate education resulting in higher debt levels. Relying on debt to finance education suggests that there is a delay in the full impact of high tuition fees till after graduation—when interest begins to be charged.
This impact is now exacerbated by the effects of the most recent recession and the rising trend of precarious, and even unpaid, employment. The broader effects of high levels of student debt on both the person and the general economy are now resulting in various issues:
Starting out with huge debt and facing a weak labour market, this prevents graduates to fully take part within the Canadian economy. Student debt impacts career selections, even among professional school graduates in medicine and law. An estimate of unpaid internships is in the range of 300,000 graduates working with no pay.
If you are an individual or company who needs to free themselves from the stress and strain of too much debt, and especially if you have been told your situation is hopeless, Ira Smith Trustee & Receiver Inc. can prepare and carry out the plan made just for you, to free you from the burden of your financial challenges to go on to live a productive, stress-free, financially sound life.
Student loan debt has its own set of unique rules and complexities within the Canadian insolvency scheme. If you’re experiencing serious debt issues, contact a professional trustee for a free, no obligation consultation. The Ira Smith Team does not try to write new insolvency law or tax law. Rather, we will evaluate your situation within the existing statutes, and help you to arrive at the best possible solution for your problems, whether that solution is a bankruptcy alternative like credit counselling, debt consolidation or a consumer proposal or bankruptcy. Starting Over, Starting Now you can be debt free with the help of a professional, licensed trustee in bankruptcy. Contact us today.
Our blog about the CRA phone scam titled: CANADA REVENUE AGENCY SCAMS: IF YOU READ ONE ARTICLE, READ THIS ONE is one of our most viewed. Since it is so popular, we thought we would put together a short video on the topic as well.
There are many fraud types, including new ones invented daily. CRA’s website warns Canadians about the CRA phone scam, which is also sometimes called the India scam. The Toronto Star also published a story on this topic: Beware phony CRA tax owing calls. The problem is rampant.
Taxpayers must be vigilant when they receive, either by telephone (including voicemail), mail, text message or email, a fraudulent communication that claims to be from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) requesting personal information such as a social insurance number, credit card number, bank account number, or passport number.
These scams, increasingly a scam phone call, may insist that they need this personal information so that the taxpayer can receive a refund or a benefit payment. Cases of fraudulent communication could also involve threatening or coercive language, including threats of prosecution for tax evasion, to scare people into paying fictitious debt to the CRA. Other communications urge taxpayers to visit a fake CRA website where the taxpayer is then asked to verify their identity by entering personal information. These are scams and taxpayers should never respond to these fraudulent communications or click on any of the links provided.
To identify communications not from the CRA, be aware of CRA’s guidelines.
If you receive a call saying you owe money to the CRA, you can call the real CRA taxation office or check your CRA online “My Account” to be sure. If you have signed up for online mail (available through My Account, My Business Account, and Represent a Client), the CRA will do the following:
If you are an individual or company who needs to free themselves from the stress and strain of too much debt, and especially if you have been told your situation is hopeless, Ira Smith Trustee & Receiver Inc. can prepare and carry out the plan made just for you, to free you from the burden of your financial challenges to go on to live a productive, stress-free, financially sound life.
If you’re experiencing serious debt issues with the CRA, or for any reason, contact a professional trustee for a free, no obligation consultation. The Ira Smith Team does not try to write new insolvency law or tax law. Rather, we will evaluate your situation within the existing statutes, and help you to arrive at the best possible solution for your problems, whether that solution is a bankruptcy alternative like credit counselling, debt consolidation or a consumer proposal or bankruptcy. Starting Over, Starting Now you can be debt free with the help of a professional, licensed trustee in bankruptcy. Contact us today.
Several months ago we first introduced you to Philippe DioGuardi, a Canadian tax lawyer – The Tax Lawyer; Even a High Profile Tax Fighting Tax Lawyer Has to Pay His Income Tax. He’s the high-profile tax lawyer of DioGuardi tax lawyers who portrays himself as a one-man bulldog lawyer crusader against the unfair tactics of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Ironically, at that time, a Toronto Star investigation revealed that Philippe DioGuardi had his own tax problems with the CRA and he paid up; the DioGuardi tax law couldn’t create the DioGuardi tax amnesty magic or “change the game”, to quote his own radio ads.
Recently I noticed that Philippe DioGuardi, a prominently featured DioGuardi tax lawyer, was no longer featured in the radio ads. Instead, they are being voiced by his father Paul DioGuardi. The ads are now very low-key, with none of the old bluster and bravado. And, I wondered why DioGuardi tax law no longer featured Philippe DioGuardi, the tax lawyer in Toronto.
That is until I read the latest Toronto Star article about him stating, “Self-styled tax fighter Philippe DioGuardi has been given a six-week suspension, a $5,000 fine and an order to pay $75,000 in legal costs after being found guilty of professional misconduct by the Law Society of Upper Canada” (LSUC). So LSUC found law society misconduct charges were proven and assessed a tribunal penalty and didn’t buy into the DioGuardi tax law concept of income tax law, as written by Philippe, and so he has a brief rest from the practice of law – a twist on DioGuardi tax amnesty!
The law society lawyer was successful in proving, according to the Order Summary of the Law Society Tribunal Philippe Joseph Mario DioGuardi (1990), of the City of Mississauga was found to have engaged in professional misconduct for:
DioGuardi tax law, as written by Philippe, is an interesting experiment. It may not be right, but it has certainly garnered a lot of attention.
Do you or your company have unpayable tax debts? Are you looking for unpayable tax debt solutions? If you are an individual or company who needs to free themselves from the stress and strain of too much debt, and especially if you have been told your situation is hopeless, Ira Smith Trustee & Receiver Inc. can prepare and implement the plan made just for you, to free you from the burden of your financial challenges to go on to live a productive, stress-free, financially sound life. This plan includes resolving unpayable tax debt solutions. We have vast experience in helping people and companies with a variety of financial challenges.
If you’re experiencing serious debt issues with the CRA, or for any reason, contact a professional trustee for a free, no-obligation consultation. The Ira Smith Team does not try to write new insolvency law or tax law. Rather, we will evaluate your situation within the existing statutes, and help you to arrive at the best possible solution for your problems, whether that solution is a bankruptcy alternative like credit counselling, debt consolidation or a consumer proposal or bankruptcy. Starting Over, Starting Now you can be debt-free with the help of a professional, licensed trustee in bankruptcy.
Contact us today.
To access the 407ETR bankruptcy debt checklist, simply click on the picture either at the top or bottom of this blog. It will take you to our secure website for access. 407ETR bankruptcy debt was the topic of last week’s blog 407ETR DEBT SETTLEMENT: OUR NEWEST GUILT FREE WAY TO DO IT, we reported on the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) decision in 407 ETR Concession Co. v. Canada (Superintendent of Bankruptcy), 2015 SCC 52 (CanLII) (the Moore Decision).
To summarize that decision, the SCC dismissed the 407ETR’s appeal because the discharge provisions of the BIA override the plate denial provisions of the Highway 407 Act.
We also reported that the effect of the SCC’s decision is that:
In both cases, once the amount owing is credited, then the person is free to obtain plate renewal from the Province.
That is all well and good, but the SCC did not and would not tell the “man on the street” how to go about having the combination of the 407ETR and the Province of Ontario reflect all this and issue a new vehicle plate registered in the name of the discharged bankrupt. So we did!
We prepared a checklist so that discharged bankrupts and their advisors will have a roadmap as to what needs to be done and what tools are required in order for 407ETR and the Province to have the proper information in order to amend their records and allow for the vehicle plate registration.
Do you have too much 407 debt and other debts?
Instead of going deeper into debt seek the help from a professional trustee, even if you’re not considering bankruptcy at this stage. A trustee in bankruptcy will evaluate your situation and help you to arrive at the best possible solution for your problems, whether that solution is a bankruptcy alternative like credit counselling, debt consolidation or a consumer proposal or bankruptcy. With immediate action and the right plan the Ira Smith Team can solve your financial problems Starting Over, Starting Now. We’re just a phone call away.
407 ETR debt settlementThis 407 ETR debt settlement blog was reviewed earlier this week by Mr. Brian Empey, Partner, Goodmans LLP. We wish to express our thanks to Mr. Empey who made a valuable suggestion which we incorporated.
In January 2014 in our blog titled 407ETR FAIRNESS-ONTARIO COURT OF APPEAL ENSURES FRESH START we described to you the decision of the Court of Appeal for Ontario in 407 ETR Concession Company Limited v. Superintendent of Bankruptcy (In the Matter of the Bankruptcy of Matthew David Moore) (the Moore Decision).
The highway’s owners appealed that decision to the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC). On Friday, November 13, 2015, the SCC released three decisions all dealing with the same basic issue: does the federal Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) take paramountcy over provincial laws purporting to deal with the issue of debt and bankruptcy in Canada. The SCC answer was a resounding YES!
The SCC dismissed the appeal of the ETR. The SCC considered whether the plate denial provisions of the Highway 407 Act conflicted with the discharge provisions of the BIA. ETR’s position was that provincial law about plate denial should apply following a person’s discharge from bankruptcy. The Attorneys General for several provinces, including the Province of Ontario, advanced positions in support of the provinces’ jurisdiction to legislate in vehicle licensing.
The SCC’s decision upheld the Moore Decision which found that the discharge provisions of the BIA override the plate denial provisions of the Highway 407 Act.
The effect of the SCC’s decision is that pre-bankruptcy amounts owed to the ETR are deemed to be provable claims under the BIA and can no longer be collected through plate denial under the Highway 407 Act following a customer’s discharge from bankruptcy. Therefore, 407 etr debt settlement is possible.
Where a person has been discharged from bankruptcy and has pre-bankruptcy amounts in plate denial, which are provable claims under the BIA, 407 ETR will credit these amounts (plus interest and fees incurred on those amounts) on the person’s 407 ETR bill, upon receipt of a Notice of Bankruptcy, and an Order of Discharge or a Certificate of Discharge.
In both cases, once the amount owing is credited, then the person is free to get plate renewal from the Province.
407 ETR must and is abiding by the SCC decision. They will set up a protocol whereby those who have already been discharged from bankruptcy and have been denied a plate renewal will be able to prove they have been discharged, get the 407 ETR debt, including penalty and interest, reversed, and get a plate renewal.
Those who are still in the middle of their bankruptcy proceedings and not yet discharged will be able to apply to have a plate renewal, once they are discharged from bankruptcy and prove it to 407 ETR.
Interestingly enough, there was no evidence whatsoever in any of the Court cases, including this one before the SCC, as to the 407 ETR’s right to deny anyone credit. When you get your transponder, the 407 ETR is actually extending credit to you, in the form of use of the toll highway in return for the toll charges they expect you to pay. It is no different from the bank loaning you money, and expecting you to repay it in full, with interest.
Will 407 ETR deny extending credit to discharged bankrupts? Will they only issue a new transponder to discharged bankrupts who give them a large cash deposit so that use of the 407 ETR will only be on a “cash and carry” basis? We don’t know, they have so far been silent on the issue, but it is still early in the game.
Instead of going deeper into debt seek help from a professional trustee, even if you’re not considering bankruptcy at this stage. A trustee in bankruptcy will evaluate your situation and help you to arrive at the best possible solution for your problems, whether that solution is a bankruptcy alternative like credit counselling, debt consolidation or a consumer proposal or bankruptcy. With immediate action and the right plan, the Ira Smith Team can solve your financial problems Starting Over, Starting Now. We’re just a phone call away.
Difference between consumer proposal and bankruptcy
This short video explains the difference between a consumer proposal and bankruptcy. A consumer proposal is a deal to end your debts. A consumer proposal is a legally binding process that is administered by a licensed trustee.
These are the main things that create a difference between consumer proposal and bankruptcy.
We offer personal bankruptcy and consumer proposal services, as well as corporate restructuring and corporate receivership and bankruptcy services to residents of the Greater Toronto Area. We explain the differences between a consumer proposal vs. personal bankruptcy. In most cases we can get a consumer proposal done and it usually results in a substantial reduction in the amount you have to repay. The amount you are required to pay when you file a consumer proposal depends on a number of factors as explained in this short video.
So now that you know the 5 major items that makes up the difference between consumer proposal and bankruptcy and if you are experiencing financial problems, or you know that you are insolvent and are considering a consumer proposal vs. personal bankruptcy, or looking at all of your realistic options, including all alternatives to bankruptcy, contact Ira Smith Trustee & Receiver Inc. Ira Smith Trustee & Receiver Inc. is a Vaughan (Toronto) bankruptcy trustee and consumer proposal administrator. We offer sound advice, a free consultation and a solid plan for Starting Over, Starting Now so that you’ll be well on your way to a debt free life in no time.
Don’t say anything online that you wouldn’t want plastered on a billboard with your face on it.
Erin Bury
So true! Once something is out there in cyberspace you can’t get rid of it. There is no delete button. Therefore, it can be no surprise that collection agencies are using social media to track debtors. The amount of personal information that we give up on social media sites is shocking.
Did you know that Facebook tracks the location of all of your messages? Facebook’s Messenger app uses location data. And, with a Google Chrome extension called Marauder’s Map, a person’s exact location is revealed if their location settings are enabled. Instagram also collects specific data about users’ locations based on where they post images.
It’s no wonder that collection agencies have realized the value of social media in tracking down debtors. “Normally, collectors use social media to locate people or see if there are any assets that might be collectable,” notes Joel Winston with the Federal Trade Commission.
Before you go ahead and post information on any of the social media sites, stop and think first. Posting photos of your recent trip to Tahiti while you’re pleading poverty to the debt collector is never a good idea. Remember that every time you post an item on a social media site you’re giving up personal information.
If you’re been chased by collection agencies you need professional help and you need it now. Contact Ira Smith Trustee & Receiver Inc. today. There are a variety of options we can discuss including a bankruptcy alternative like credit counselling, debt consolidation or a consumer proposal or bankruptcy, if ultimately that’s the best course of action for you. Starting Over, Starting Now you can be on your way to living a debt free life.
We have made this video to answer the Consumer Proposal FAQs that we are normally asked. This information will hopefully help you understand better how it can help you clear your debts and AVOID bankruptcy.
In addition to this video, you can also check out other blogs and vlogs we have written on Proposals:
The most asked of the FAQs is – What are the advantages? The main ones are:
We hope you enjoy this video about consumer proposal FAQs. Click on this link to find out more. You can also have many of your questions about personal bankruptcy answered by clicking on our Bankruptcy FAQs link.
Instead of going deeper into debt and just putting your head in the sand like an ostrich, heed the advice of your grey divorce support groups and contact us today. Seek the help from a professional trustee, even if you’re not considering bankruptcy at this stage.
A trustee in bankruptcy will evaluate your situation and help you to arrive at the best possible solution for your problems, whether that solution is a bankruptcy alternative like credit counselling, debt consolidation or a consumer proposal or bankruptcy. With immediate action and the right plan, the Ira Smith Team can solve your financial problems Starting Over, Starting Now. We’re just a phone call away.
