The Apprenticeship Service Program (ASP)

With a shortage of skilled workers across the trade industry, the Apprenticeship Service Program makes it easier for small to medium-sized enterprises to hire first-year apprentices in Red Seal trades across Canada through financial incentives funded by the Government of Canada’s Apprenticeship Service, and in partnership with EHRC (Electricity Human Resources Canada)

Can't Afford a House?

Tax-Free First Home Savings Account - $40K Limit - Open FHSA Account from April 1, 2023.

To tackle the bane of unaffordable housing prices, the federal government has introduced a novel program, which is a RRSP + TFSA combined.

2023 Budget - Interesting Proposals and Potential Tax Increases

Federal government budgets over the years have had some key common traits: loss of brevity, increasing amounts of details for the public (despite all the focus on openness hardly anyone aside from industry experts reads the budget, and a more voluminous version conversely makes the budget even more daunting to tackle). With the 270 page volume budget released, here is the recap of the salient tax topics addressed.

The CRA is on Strike! Is That Really a Bad Thing?

Well that all depends on if you are filing corporate or personal taxes. But we have you covered. Read more on how the Government of Canada is handling the CRA strike and how it could affect your business, trust, or personal return. 

Around the Courts (Restaurant Gratuities and Tips)

Recent courts have ruled that tips to servers are not only taxable (if they are paid through the employer) but are subject to EI and CPP withholdings as well.

On tips that are mandatory, GST/HST must also be applied to the tip.

Watch Out For Short Taxation Years

Corporations can be deemed to have a year-end in the middle of their fiscal year for several different reasons.

A change in control of the corporation or a change in ownership could trigger a financial year-end meaning your tax return needs to be filed within 6 months of the deemed year-end. This could result in numerous negative side effects.

Simplified Instalments if You Have the Cash

Did you know if you pay a personal or corporate tax installment early the CRA will credit you with “offset” interest at the same rate that applies to your late payments? The “offset” interest rate for the amount you paid early can be applied against late installments only; it will not be paid out to you.

Aggressive Tax Planning Gets More Risky

The government has been taking more and more measures in recent years to go after “aggressive tax planning” — that is, the use of tax shelters and other schemes to avoid tax in ways not intended by the designers of the tax system. New rules will make it more dangerous than ever to use such schemes.

We are not talking about tax evasion here. Evasion is the criminal offence of falsely reporting (or not reporting) one’s income or credits. But until now, legal tax avoidance has often been worth trying. If a tax planning scheme was audited and it failed, the cost was usually just that the tax and interest were payable.

Now there are more dangers.

Examples of rules that have recently been introduced or passed by Parliament:

Tax Shelter Related Issues - What to Look Out For

Tax Shelters are the stuff of legend. Often times these instruments are publicized in the media for providing tax evasion strategies to the extraordinarily rich. On the other hand, illegitimate tax shelters use of tax law, inevitably earn the wrath of GAAR (General Anti Avoidance Tax Rules designed to ferret this behavior out) from CRA and the public at large. 

What Should You Do If You Disagree With The CRA?

Whenever a private corporation has shareholders from more than one family (and sometimes even within the same family), a shareholders’ agreement should be considered.

The Hidden Benefits of Life Insurance

Reaching for your chequebook or credit card to make charitable donations is the least tax cost-effective strategy.

We’ve identified more than 20 ways to be even more charitable − all of them more tax and cost-effective – encouraging you to look around at your loved ones and consider how you can build a more enduring philanthropic legacy.