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The month of April is a perennial headache for taxpayers. They have to devote precious hours of their time to completing their income tax returns, or pay someone else to do it for them. Is it possible to make life easier for Canadians by simplifying the tax system?

The Canadian tax system is very complex, and has become more so over the years. Whereas the Income Tax Act was 4,000 words long when it was enacted in 1917, today it comprises over 1.1 million words. That’s the equivalent of all seven volumes of the Harry Potter series — although it’s a considerably less gripping read.

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Indeed, in addition to being massive, the Income Tax Act is not easy to understand, even for civil servants: Government audits have found that nearly one-third of responses given to taxpayers by Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) call-centre agents are wrong.

The Income Tax Act was 4,000 words long when it was enacted in 1917, today it comprises over 1.1 million words

Another aspect of the complexity of the Canadian system is the high number of personal tax credits, which represent exceptions that must be taken into account when completing a tax return. The number of these credits increased by 26 per cent between 1991 and 2015.