In a September 17, 2019 Tax Court of Canada case, at issue was the deductibility of vehicle expenses, and in particular, the portion of total vehicle use that was for employment purposes. While initially challenged by CRA, the Court eventually accepted the credit card statements as support for the amounts expended. The taxpayer held and… Read more »

In a June 20, 2019 Technical Interpretation, CRA was asked whether a taxpayer legally adopting the child of his or her common-law partner would be eligible to claim the costs under the adoption expense tax credit ($16,255 @ 15% for 2019). CRA opined that the credit could be claimed by the adoptive parent, but not… Read more »

The amount of income an individual can earn without paying tax (basic personal amount) will begin increasing in 2020. In the first year, it will rise to $13,229 (from $12,069 in 2019), and will reach $15,000 in 2023. The benefit will begin to be phased out when an individual has earnings of approximately $150,000. The… Read more »

One common planning technique for disabled individuals involves the use of a trust under which the trustees possess ultimate discretion over any distributions to be made. In other words, the beneficiary has no enforceable right to receive any distributions from the trust unless or until the trustees exercise their discretion in the beneficiary’s favour. The… Read more »

In an August 15, 2019 Tax Court of Canada case, at issue was the deductibility of a number of employment expenses (primarily travel, lodging and motor vehicle expenses) incurred by the taxpayer. While the taxpayer resided in Ottawa, he signed an employment contract with a company based in Regina. The employment contract stated that the… Read more »

Higher levels of personal income are taxed at higher personal rates, while lower levels are taxed at lower rates. Therefore, individuals may want to, where possible, adjust income out of high income years and into low income years. This is particularly useful if the taxpayer is expecting a large fluctuation in income, due to, for… Read more »

In a July 8, 2019 Tax Court of Canada case, CRA had reassessed the taxpayer to add loans received from a corporation controlled by her brother and his wife to her income. Special rules apply to loans advanced from a corporation to a shareholder or a “connected person” (which includes any related person). These rules… Read more »

December 31, 2019 is fast approaching… see below for a list of tax planning considerations. Please contact us for further details or to discuss whether these may apply to your tax situation.SOME 2019 YEAR-END TAX PLANNING TIPS INCLUDE: 1)     Certain expenditures made by individuals by December 31, 2019 will be eligible for 2019 tax deductions… Read more »

CRA released a Tax Tip (Protecting your personal information) on August 6, 2019 which provided various suggestions to safeguard tax information, including the following: Signing up for My Account or My Business Account and registering for email notifications. Notifications will be sent when paper mail is returned to CRA, or when certain other changes are… Read more »

Unclaimed property refers to accounts at banks, financial institutions, and other organizations where there has been no activity generated or contact with the owner for a period. Typical forms of unclaimed property can include chequing or savings accounts, term deposits, Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs), bank drafts, traveller’s cheques, money orders, and certified cheques. A number… Read more »