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A mid-year check up on your taxes (June 2019)
Most Canadians have now filed their individual income tax return for the 2018 tax year and received a Notice of Assessment outlining their tax position for that year. Those who receive a refund will c...

Canadian households set (another) new debt record (June 2019)
It’s the financial “achievement” no one wants to have, but Canadians keep setting new records when it comes to the size of their household debt. And, as of the last quarter of 2018, ...

New assistance for first-time home buyers (June 2019)
It would be entirely reasonable for Canadians seeking to buy their first home to feel that the odds are very much against them, for a number of reasons. Many of them, especially those in their twentie...

Objecting to your 2018 Notice of Assessment (June 2019)
By May 20, 2019, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) had processed just over 27 million individual income tax returns filed for the 2018 tax year. Just under 17 million of those returns resulted in a refu...

New Quarterly Newsletters (May 2019)
Two quarterly newsletters have been added—one dealing with personal issues, and one dealing with corporate issues....

Coming clean with the tax authorities (May 2019)
Although virtually no one looks forward to the task, the vast majority of Canadians do file their tax returns, and pay any taxes owed, by the applicable tax payment and filing deadlines each spring. T...

Getting relief from the high cost of driving (May 2019)
As every Canadian driver knows, gas prices seem to rise every spring, seemingly in lockstep with the warmer weather. This year, that annual trend has been given an extra push by the implementation of ...

When you can’t file or pay on time – the Taxpayer Relief Program (May 2019)
The deadline for payment of all individual income taxes owed for the 2018 tax year was April 30, 2019. For all individuals except the self-employed and their spouses, that date was also the filing dea...

Fixing a mistake in your (already filed) tax return (May 2019)
For the majority of Canadians, the due date for filing of an individual tax return for the 2018 tax year was Tuesday April 30, 2019. (Self-employed Canadians and their spouses have until Monday June 1...

Budget expands access to Home Buyers’ Plan (April 2019)
Both changes in the job market and increases in real estate prices over at least the past decade have made the goal of home ownership an elusive or even impossible one for many Canadians, especially y...

What to do when you can’t pay your tax bill (April 2019)
Most taxpayers sit down to do their annual tax return, or wait to hear from their tax return preparer, with some degree of trepidation. In most cases taxpayers don’t know, until their return is ...

Paying the taxman – how and when (April 2019)
Our tax system is, for the most part, a mystery to individual Canadians. The rules surrounding income tax are complicated and it can seem that for every rule there is an equal number of exceptions or ...

Some last-minute tax filing strategies - the timing of medical and charitable tax credit claims (April 2019)
By the time most Canadians sit down to organize their various tax slips and receipts and undertake to complete their tax return for 2018, the most significant opportunities to minimize the tax bill fo...

Deciding when to start receiving Old Age Security benefits (March 2019)
The Old Age Security program is the only aspect of Canada’s retirement income system which does not require a direct contribution from recipients of program benefits. Rather, the OAS program is ...

When and how to file this year’s tax return (March 2019)
Each year, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) publishes a statistical summary of the tax filing patterns of Canadians during the previous filing season. Those statistics for the 2018 show that the vast m...

It’s tax filing – and tax scam – season (March 2019)
For many years now, there has been a persistent tax scam operating in Canada in which Canadians are contacted, usually by phone, by someone who falsely identifies himself or herself as being a represe...

What’s new on this year’s tax return? (March 2019)
While Canadian taxpayers must prepare and file the same form – the T1 Income Tax and Benefit Return – every spring, that return form is never the same from one year to the next. The one co...

New Quarterly Newsletters (February 2019)
Two quarterly newsletters have been added—one dealing with personal issues, and one dealing with corporate issues....

More debt … and more interest (February 2019)
The fact that debt levels of Canadian households have been increasing over the past decade and a half can’t really be called news anymore. In particular, the ratio of debt-to-household-income, w...

Responding to a tax instalment reminder from the CRA (February 2019)
Sometime during the month of February, millions of Canadians will receive mail from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). That mail, a “Tax Instalment Reminder”, will set out the amount of inst...

RRSPs and TFSAs — making the annual contribution (February 2019)
For most taxpayers, the annual deadline for making an RRSP contribution comes at a very inconvenient time. At the end of February, many Canadians are still trying to pay off the bills from holiday spe...

Taking advantage of pension income splitting (February 2019)
Income tax is a big-ticket item for most retired Canadians. Especially for those who are no longer paying a mortgage, the annual tax bill may be the single biggest expenditure they are required to mak...

Employment Insurance Premiums for 2019 (January 2019)
The Employment Insurance premium rate for 2019 is decreased to 1.62%....

Quebec Pension Plan Premiums for 2019 (January 2019)
The Quebec Pension Plan contribution rate for employees and employers for 2019 is 5.55%, and maximum pensionable earnings are $57,400. The basic exemption is $3,500....

Canada Pension Plan Contributions for 2019 (January 2019)
The Canada Pension Plan contribution rate for 2019 is increased to 5.1% of pensionable earnings for the year....

Federal individual tax credits for 2019 (January 2019)
Dollar amounts on which individual non-refundable federal tax credits for 2019 are based, and the actual tax credit claimable, will be as follows....

Federal individual tax rates and brackets for 2019 (January 2019)
The indexing factor for federal tax credits and brackets for 2018 is 2.2%. The following federal tax rates and brackets will be in effect for individuals for the 2019 tax year....

Tax deadlines and limits for the 2019 tax year (January 2019)
Each new tax year brings with it a listing of tax payment and filing deadlines, as well as some changes with respect to tax planning strategies. Some of the more significant dates and changes for indi...

Tax changes effective January 1, 2019 (January 2019)
The following tax changes are in effect January 1, 2019....

The 2018 Fall Economic Statement – some good news for business (December 2018)
While there weren’t a great number of tax measures included in the 2018 Fall Economic Statement brought down by the Minister of Finance on November 21, 2018, the tax changes that were announced ...

Year-end planning for your RRSP and TFSA (December 2018)
Most Canadians know that the deadline for making contributions to one’s registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) comes after the end of the calendar year, around the end of February. There are,...

The tax year is ending – some planning steps to take before December 31st (December 2018)
For individual Canadian taxpayers, the tax year ends at the same time as the calendar year. And what that means for individual Canadians is that any steps taken to reduce their tax payable for 2018 mu...

The potential tax costs of holiday gifts and celebrations (December 2018)
The holiday season is usually costly, but few Canadians are aware that those costs can include increased income tax liability resulting from holiday gifts and celebrations. It doesn’t seem entir...

New Quarterly Newsletters (November 2018)
Two quarterly newsletters have been added—one dealing with personal issues, and one dealing with corporate issues....

Newsletters

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