Now here is a situation that could be really annoying if you let it. Sometimes people really need the straight goods and this Rant is in the form of what I had to write, in the hopes of awakening a fire under the derriere.

He actually sound like a nice gentle soul… but does he ever need a wake up call.

Sam writes to me… after I have him a lengthy free answer… the following email:

If you like… you can just scroll down to my rantish behavior below Sam’s letter to me. His letter is lenghty… maybe read it after my response.

 Hello Mr. White,

Thank you so much for your e-mail and the information you kindly provided and as well for being so upfront and candid.  Please know I really appreciate it very much and any help or suggestions you can offer.  Of course, the only other information I was able to come up with my desperate ‘google’ internet information search last night was what appeared to be every other bankruptcy trustee in the City of Toronto.  Perhaps, I am not looking in the right places or looking hard enough but as I am sure you are more than familiar with there does not appear to be much of any constructive advice or information on the internet available other then bankruptcy trustees saying to declare bankruptcy and/or a consumer proposal – neither of which I have ever done.

 Ironically enough even the ‘friendly’ CRA collection agent that called me seemed to say several times that the amount of money I owed was small -

$3,285.14 and should be easy to pay off.  He said that he would be kind to me and give me till Wednesday, January 18 but after that the automated process that you mentioned in your e-mail will start to happen and that it will be the point of no return.  He even laughed somewhat sarcastically when I told him I was employed and said well that’s good – should be even easier then at that point in time I knew I should say very little as he was looking for lot’s of information.

 I apologize in advance if I have become off topic as I know you are being very kind in any advice or suggestions you can offer me and are not currently on the ‘clock’ being paid.  There is a very slight possibility that I may be able to borrow the money or part of it from a high interest/risk ‘facility’ lender like HSBC or Citi with Loan Shark rates like 29% but I may not have much of a choice as it will be that to get the CRA paid up and happy or face the consequences of the series of events that you mentioned.  Fortunately (right now) my credit bureau is ok but not Triple A that a major chartered bank will say – no problem here’s 3 or 4 grand to pay the CRA – I think they will sort of laugh at me and then ask me to quietly leave.  This is what I tried to politely explain to the CRA agent but he was not interested in listening or compromising at all. The CRA agent won’t even talk to me any further unless I have some type of piece of paper from the bank refusing to lend me money.  Even then, assuming I did what they say, my ‘gut’ feeling is telling me they still won’t say no problem give us $100.00 or ? a month till it’s paid off, even though they are applying interest every day.

 Unfortunately, there is no one I can borrow the money from, ie: parents or sister.  I am thankfully employed and feel fortunate to make what I feel to be a decent salary.  I don’t own a home I can borrow against and my car is old a 2001 VW Jetta with 375,000KMS on it but it runs so I don’t complain.

 Sorry and not to get the violins out or take up your valuable time with my ‘life story’ this all started about 2004/05 when I was laid off for the first time in my life and I am paying back at $50.00 a month (barely covers the interest) a debt of $4500 to the CRA’s sister – Human Resources and Development for overpayment on Unemployment Insurance which they demanded that I pay back which I have been doing every month since 2005.  I did try to explain this to the CRA agent as well.  He pretty much said not my problem – deal with it (even though it’s the government as well).  This CRA tax debt stems from a part time job I had working at Durham BMW in the parts department for several years where I worked every Saturday trying to make some extra money.  Well, I guess I was very naive and didn’t realize till it was to late the employer was not taking enough tax off and that is what this debt is mostly from.

 Sorry for the long winded e-mail Mr. White, depending on you hourly/retainer rate is there perhaps any way I could ‘hire’ or speak to one of your colleagues to suggest a plan that might work to deal with the CRA agent in the next week or so that might make them accept a payment plan or am I simply trying to do something that will never happen with the CRA? Any advice, suggestions or ideas you can suggest would be very greatly appreciated.  Thank you again in advance for your valuable time and any advice you can offer.

 Kind regards,

 Sam Salvatori

_____ Here is my response…  I don’t mean to be on kind, because Sam sounds like a nice guy.. but he really needs a kick in the butt! _________

Hi Sam,

Again I am going to be straight forward and honest. You may not like what I have to say, but it comes from a place of kindness….. Remember this… When someone gives you shit, listen to it, because it is free advice. I am going to give you shit now.

First, I am going to write what I think the CRA collections officer is thinking….

Sam is a little shithead. I gave him a bone and he threw it away…. I know freaking well he could get that loan… but he has his head stuck up his derriere, and would rather fail by not trying to succeed, then to fail by trying. If he can’t get off his behind and go onto a bank and apply for a loan, then I am going to fubar him over… Do I feel sorry for him? Hell no! He won’t even go ask for a loan because he thinks he may fail. Well … I figure on January 18 I am going to do a computer search and get his bank and his employer, and I will take 100% of his income… it will be paid off in a couple of months. And I don’t give a Rat’s ass is he starves.

Secondly, The following;  is what I am thinking.

Sam either has a mental problem, is timid, has not bothered to think things out, or he is lazy. There is no flapping reason he cannot listen to what the CRA dude said and go apply for the loan.

He will either get it or not, and if he does get the loan… problem solved. If he does not get the loan, show the loan application to the CRA collections officer and he will get a payment plan.

You are worried about 29% interest, which is higher than what it really would be… so you would rather pay 100% of your income, rather than to pay high interest. You my friend are not thinking clearly.  I could send you a to a trustee, but he would tell you the same thing I am telling you.

You have the resources to pay the tax bill by borrowing, or a payment plan,  but for some reason you would rather cause your worst nightmare by sticking your head in the sand, than walking down to a bank. And by the way; You said that you earn a decent income, so don’t even dream of offering a measly $100 per month to CRA. Think in terms of $500 per month.

Yes… you could go bankrupt… and you might have to, unless you get proactive.

You may not like what I wrote, but it is done out of kindness… if you don’t wake up and smell the burning toast and pop the latch, you are going to be compost material when CRA gets done with you.

Best Regards

Dan White

Wise old men, bright eyed youth, it is always easier to sell them some shit than it is to tell them the truth.

Let’s get with the program. The world is now known as “flat.” The sense of community is no longer just geographical. It is divided by values and interests. That means; you need to define who you and your customers are and what you represent. If your customers are people with too much time on their hands… then maybe social networking works… but it is still not the best answer when it comes to selling goods and services.

Well may be the Apple Cult… is into the social media… but then Apple irks me too, but I will leave that alone for this rant.

One has to make sure they do a reality check before they go to social networking to build their business. The grand gurus of business who think they can build their businesses by social networking don’t understand the meaning of the word “Social.” are out to lunch on a social network break where they are not contributing to the bottom line. Hell never mind the risks or costs involved with being a mud puddle of social babble.

The world of social is going to change to understand that social is personal interests world and needs to be separated from business world, which are worlds apart. You don’t talk about work when you are in bed with your lover and you don’t talk about sex when you are selling computers. Sexy maybe, but sex NOT! So understand that there is a difference.

Twitting and Tweeting have a purpose, for social networking and politics, but not for those who contribute to the gross national product. The movers and shakers have no time to sit with their thumbs on their smart phones and tablets waiting for the next tweet to come, or the next buzz to build their business. Socially correct people do not interrupt meetings when they get a tweet because they don’t want to be a twit.

Here is a question; who wants to have the cost of social networking built in the cost of the things they need for business? We live in a flat, price conscious society, which is now a global economy. No one wants to pay more than necessary for what they buy, as evidenced by everything made in China. Small business needs to be competitive and trying to stay current with all that happens in Cyberworld is a pointless money pit. Save the time and money and focus on wowing your customers.

Your customers may or may not be a community… in most cases they don’t need to know or bother with each other. Regardless of that, they need to be able to contact your company and get whatever it is that you have that they want. Prospects and Customers want instant answers and they want it now. The new customers are not going to sign up with you to so that they can consume their day watching for your every tweet. If prospects want to know what your regular customers think; make it possible for them to find out by putting a testimonial area and comments section on your website… When it comes to knowledge we live in an instant gratification world, so it is up to you to make it possible. They should not need to go looking for a chat area about you, which likely does not even exist anyway.

If you are going to have a comments section on your web site, make sure the comments are monitored. There is always some lame ass dork who wants to make stupid comments, so avoid the pain.

Small business does not have time to live it Tweetville, or the money to hire people to manage Twitville. In the months and years to come how we share information will become much more sophisticated and will require a greater degree of understanding of the minds of those who have the choice to deal or not to deal with your company. The first impression must be impressive.

Your web site must be real or you won’t even get past the border of yesteryear’s community boundaries. The world of the do it yourself web site is coming to an end. The future will give way to a new breed of web masters… they will have the real stuff…. There will be no choice, pay them of fade away into the past rubble of failed attempts to do business via the web. Those who pay the bucks and have fantastic web sites will prosper. Those who think they can’t afford to pay for a professional web presence, will be destined to dwell in web purgatory.

Having talked about web masters, the old glory days of getting paid big bucks just because you can do slap up a template and proclaim your genius…. are over. The web masters of the future will be those who deliver the best value proposition. They will prosper, but they won’t get rich overnight… the high paying glory days of the first web masters is in ruins. To survive financially today means that no matter what you do, you have to deliver awesome value.

Instead of thinking of building a house of business that won’t stand, instead… understand who your customers are and be what they want you to be. Not only should you be what they want, you should work to exceed their expectations. You need to define who your business tribe is. Being a sound business is not built on diatribe, it is built on being authentic and proclaiming the truth.

We need to pick a tribe to belong to. Defining the word “Tribe” as being a group of people who are held together by common bonds, values and aspirations. Find a tribe where your values jive and where people are genuinely committed to doing good business.

Sure the web world is full of phonies, fabricators and fools… and there is a sucker born every minute. The “Real Deals” will make it real and the “Real Dolts” will pretend to be real… So if you want to grow your business make it easy to find out who and where you are and that you are the real deal – really!

Give the information your customers want, where they want it when they want it to instantly gratificationly found.

Social Networking is not the real deal!!! it is the tool of those who would share and care with their friends and family…. Let old fashioned business networking rule and Long reign the ‘social’ in ‘social networking!’

As for Social Networking in Business BBB…. Bunch of Business Bull!

And that is just what I think, so bite me.

The following is a recent dialog I have been in with someone in trouble with CRA. Please note that all names have been changed in accordance to our privacy policy.

Hi Dan,

In Jan 2009 I filed bankruptcy; In Feb 2010 I received a full discharge from my bankruptcy.

On Dec 22 my E.I and only current source of income was direct deposited in my bank account. The next day I logged onto my account and found it empty.

I phoned my bank. They said they had a garnish order on my account. This garnish order was for a bill from Revenue Canada that had been included in my bankruptcy.

After many phone calls I was assured by Revenue Canada that it was all a big mistake and the money taken would be returned and the garnish order lifted from my account. Dec 28, the garnish order is back on my account.

Apparently placed by someone who has is on holidays, after many phone calls, Revenue Canada says they have nothing showing a new garnish being put on my account, and is working on getting to the bottom of it

Sue

Hi Mary,

This could be a bank error… I would start by letting your bank know that this is an error… and that they need to unfreeze the bank account immediately. Specifically they are not to forward any funds to CRA… because even CRA says it is wrong… They have the RTP form from CRA (requirement to pay) on it is the CRA collections person.. Have your bank call that person to confirm what you are saying is true. If the person is still on holidays, anyone in collections can look after this for you.

We could do this for you… except for a few reasons… one our time is more expensive than yours… we are on holidays until Tuesday… and this is not complicated to fix…. it is just time consuming and frustrating.

Best Regards,
Dan White

Dan

This was not a mistake of the bank.

After a whole day on the phone, it was once again determined that Revenue Canada was at fault.

My 1st Xmas with my grandson was ruined when they took all my money before Xmas.

I make good money when I work, but in winter things here shut down and I’m only on Employment Insurance.

The garnish orders have both been removed from my account but they cannot tell me when the money they took will be returned.

Unfortunately because its the holiday I cannot even find a lawyer open for advice on whether or not Revenue Canada is above the law, or if they can be charged or sued for this.

I have truck insurance that is going to be N.S.F, and will result in extra charges from my bank as well as twice now I have run up my long distance on my phone trying to get it sorted out.

It was also demeaning having to go to social assistance for an emergency voucher for groceries and a voucher to pay for a prescription I had C.O.D in the mail, which of course I had to sign an agreement to pay back.

As for telling my bank anything, even though I called them as soon as I found out what had happened, they paid CRA everything that was in my account, though not much, it was my entire income.

I will contact a lawyer on Tuesday when they open to see about filing a lawsuit.

Sue

Hi Sue,

You have every right to be outraged…. But join the club of the CRA Abused.

You are just one of the thousands of Canadians who are experiencing being a small furry animal versus a big Mack truck.

CRA is not above the law… you can sue… just be ready to have the fight of the century…. You are going to need to do both tort law and civil law… And expect your legal bill to go over 100k.

You should also consider suing the bank for breach of contract, not exercising good faith, violation of common law, breach of Charter Rights… assessor to a crime and a violation of the United Nations, rights of children.

And by the way, ruining Christmas is not new to CRA. It does not factor in to the equation when they are supposed to get their work done.  CRA has no issue about grabbing bank accounts at Christmas and sending out fear in brown envelopes to arrive on December 24^th.…. It teaches people a lesson….. There are lots of good people who work for CRA but for a lot of them they become very jaded and develop an attitude of … if you don’t work for CRA then you are a tax cheater… and a rotten person to boot.

Small businesses, single mothers and senior citizens are easy targets to attack and ruin….Bullies attack the weakest and most vulnerable…  Child tax credits and seniors pensions are a source of carrion where the CRA snakes and buzzards feast….

Just understand… you are dealing with the dark forces of the evil empire… and CRA eat lawyers… Banks have very deep pockets… so good luck on actually inning a case against either. You will be sucked down the negativity drain into the bowels of a cesspool of mucus beasts who await to feast on those who would venture there….

If you are looking for some kind of moral satisfaction … that is doable and we can do that for you… but even that would costly.  Dealing with the dark forces is an exercise of countless hours to achieve the objective.

For us… well our clients love us, because we are the only company in Canada who knows how to derail the CRA Train.

Revenge is somewhat expensive, but doable… so if you are interested in moral justice… let me know…

Best Regards

Dan White

2. Security will be a chip you carry with you… like in a ring.. in a pendant,,, sort of your dog tag…that will sync with your devices to allow them to be used… when you walk away.. the device locks up. Now that is a chipper way of doing things.

3. Technology will be command by voice… fingers not required. There will be a two hour directed voice training where the device learns how you mispronounce your words…Scripts will be written to complete complex computerized functions. We will learn not to tell the computer to “go f—k itself, because it will and then we will be really screwed.

4. IBM is right on point number 4 above.

5. Junk Mail, will cease to exist. Cyber response will render spammers as impotent. And may that spread over to their offspring.

6.The line between operating systems for tablets net-books and laptops will blur… Who was that company that bought DOS anyway?

7. Android will expand to be the operating system of choice for Net-Books and Laptops. Oh, Android King of the world, long may you reign.

8. Solid state hard drives will be pluggable into a high speed USB slot. They will contain your operating system and your files and will be interchangeable between computers. They will be able to be chip set to ‘read only.’

9. Build in web cams in laptops will become multi-directional and will stop making us look so ugly. OK… so I am not all that pretty… but I sure don’t need to be made to look worse.

10. Microsoft will re-invent itself as they continue to see their traditional source of income disappear into the clouds. Microsoft will become a household name as in they will focus on making our house a techno wonder for dummies.

11. Software will go through dramatic changes.. Bookkeeping will evolve to become, record keeping and company information management. Cloud computing will rain… err… I mean ‘reign.’

12. QuickBooks and the like will be forced to change direction to adapt to increasingly aggressive government agencies such as the Canada Revenue Agency and International Financial Reporting Standards. First they will lose market share and then slowly they will go to ground zero … then raise from the ashes. The world will finally understand that QuickBooks is neither quick or easy. OH>>> and they will drop the asinine process of not letting the clients separate files by the year… and the files created in new versions of their software will be compatible. I can’t wait to see ARB kick their butts when it comes to common sense… audit ready…. Accounting of which the mainstream bookkeeping software is so far off base that they are AWOL!

13. OGEEMO and ARB will become the buzz of the next 5 years. Look out world, here comes audit ready record keeping.

14. People will challenge my predictions, and that is good. Annoying … but appreciated.  Of the swords that clashed in mighty brawls…of Mastodons…  and Caesura’s bust is on the shelf … and I don’t feel so well myself. Blasphemy and all of that… So raise your swords and engage in enraged slashing…

As I see it; the future is created from a pile of rubble, the needs of the present and ingenuity and not from some Geek telling a Non-Geek what the future will bring. Key Surah, Kay Surah… or however one spells those words. RATHER the future is created by those who see today’s problems and offer a high value, painless affordable solution to fix the problems… Like in a glass of 40 Creek, makes all the problems in live fade away in the warm glow of the flickering firelight from an open fire.

And that my friends is my Rant about what has not happened. YET!!!

However if IMB is throwing good money towards making their predictions come true, then they ought to go have a glass of 40 Creek Whiskey then take a look at the future through the eyes of what consumers want….

Not to forget that IBM sold DOS to Bill Gates and that RIM and Microsoft are examples of companies that got lost because they believed that making lots of money is only a result of past good thinking. It does not mean that they are the Gods of Future. It does not even mean that they are smart, but for sure they broke their crystal ball. Here’s a look at technology innovations IBM predicts will happen within the next five years. How I see it they are only right on point number 4. Which by the way is one hell of a lucrative business situation to
pursue.

The Next 5 in 5 forecast is a list created by IBM detailing five technologies that the company believes will have a substantial impact on “the way we work, live and play” during the course of the next five years. The 2011 forecast is as follows:

1. Energy: People power will come to life.

If IBM is correct, dead cell phone batteries become a thing of the past. The company believes that kinetic energy will be harvested much more extensively than at present with small devices being used to collect the energy we create when we walk, job or ride a bike.

2. Security: You will never need a password again.

The use of multi-factor biometrics will become commonplace. Retinal and facial scans and voice recognition will replace passwords and PINs, improving security and making it easier and speedier to access password-protected accounts (unless you have a stuffy nose, that is).

3. Mind reading: No longer science fiction.

According to IBM, “Dialing a telephone is considered so last century. Soon, overt communication with devices might be just as archaic. IBM scientists are researching how to link your brain to your devices, such as a computer or a smartphone, so you only have to think about calling someone and it happens. For example, see a cube on your computer screen and think about moving it to the left, and it will. Beyond electronics control, possible applications include physical rehabilitation and understanding of brain disorders such as autism.”

4. Mobile: The digital divide will cease to exist.

IBM believes that mobile devices will be used to enable/improve services in poor or disadvantaged areas, citing mobile commerce and remote health care as examples.

5. Analytics: Junk mail will become priority mail.

“Imagine technology that replaces the unwanted messaging in your life with the next best thing to a personal assistant. IBM is developing technology that uses analytics and sense making to integrate data into applications that present only the information you want—and then do something about it.” Hmmm. In other words, spam will become personalized. Hair restorer spams will only be sent to bald people and Viagra spams will only be sent…

You can read about the predictions in more detail here.

IBM’s Next 5 for 5 forecast has a somewhat spotty track record. For example, “There will be a 3-D Internet” and “Real-time speech translation—once a vision only in science fiction—will become the norm” (both made in 2006) have yet to happen while “Your cell phone will be your wallet, ticket broker, concierge, bank, shopping buddy and more” (made in 2007) is indeed a reality.