On December 6, 2022, the Auditor General of Canada released its report on COVID benefit compliance enforcement. The report reviewed a total of $210.7 billion in payments with the following breakdown among programs. – Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit (CWLB) – $0.9 billion – Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) – $100.7 billion – Canada Recovery Sickness… Read more »
Where tips are “paid” by an employer, they are pensionable and insurable. In such cases, the employer must also withhold income tax and report the amounts on the employee’s T4. CRA’s current administrative policy is that if the tip is controlled by the employer (controlled tips) and then transferred to the employee, it is considered to be paid by the… Read more »
Some quick points to consider… – For 2023, the maximum amount that may be deducted for non-taxable allowances paid to an employee using a personal vehicle for business purposes has increased by 7₵ to 68₵/km for the first 5,000 kms driven and to 62₵ for each additional km. For Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut,… Read more »
A July 28, 2022 Tax Court of Canada case considered whether input tax credits (ITCs) in respect of a farming operation’s expenditures were available. The farming activity consisted of breeding and racing various horses and involved at least four full-time employees at one point. Over a nine-year period (2007- 2015), the operations never experienced positive net earnings and more than $4… Read more »
Individuals may be asked to take on various roles in respect of loved ones, friends, clients or others. One role that is particularly riddled with challenges is that of an estate executor. While an individual may carry out their duties in an appropriate manner, it is important to consider the risks of unhappy beneficiaries and any other undesirable outcomes, including… Read more »
Directors can be personally liable for payroll source deductions (CPP, EI and income tax withholdings) and GST/HST unless they exercise due diligence to prevent the corporation from failing to remit these amounts on a timely basis. An August 31, 2022 Tax Court of Canada case found that the director was not duly diligent and therefore was personally liable for the corporation’s unremitted… Read more »
Legislation has been proposed for trusts (including estates) with years ending on December 31, 2022 and onwards that would significantly expand the reporting rules. More trusts would be required to file tax returns, and more information would be required to be disclosed in these returns. In addition, sizable penalties would be introduced for non-compliance. More trusts and estates required… Read more »
A June 2, 2022 Technical Interpretation discussed the taxability of funds received through crowdfunding campaigns. CRA first noted that amounts received through a crowdfunding arrangement could represent loans, capital contributions, gifts, income or a combination of two or more of these. This means that the funds received could be taxable (such as business income) or not (such as a… Read more »
Some quick points to consider… – The interest rate on overdue taxes for the fourth quarter of 2022 (October 1 – December 31, 2022) has increased by 1% to 7%. Make sure to get those payments in to CRA on time! – No input tax credit (ITC) can be claimed if the vendor does not have a… Read more »
In an April 21, 2022 Tax Court of Canada case, the Court reviewed whether the taxpayer and her former spouse were shared-custody parents of their three children for the period from January 2019 to June 2021 for the purpose of the Canada child benefit (CCB). In shared-custody arrangements, each individual will get half of the payment they would have received had… Read more »