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STAY UP-TO-DATE WITH BREAKING TAX AND INVESTMENT NEWS.

A thorough analysis of today’s financial news—delivered weekly to your inbox or via social media. As part of Knowledge Bureau’s interactive network, the Report covers current issues on the tax and financial services landscape and provides a wide range of professional benefits, including access to peer-to-peer blogs, opinion polls, online lessons, and vital industry information from Canada’s only multi-disciplinary financial educator.

This Week’s Edition of KBR:

December 2024 Poll

Should the $250 Working Canadian Rebate be passed into law to provide tax relief to individuals with working net income under $150,000, who also contribute to the CPP?
Yes: 30 votes
15.63%
No: 162 votes
84.38%
 

Cast Your Vote

Special Report - Comprehensive Details from the December 16 Fall Economic Statement

December 16, 2024.   Amidst the drama of the resignation of the Finance Minister, the Fall Economic Report itself was shocking in it’s revelation of a projected $61.9 Billion dollar deficit for the year 2023-2024 and another $48.3 billion for 2024-2025, with  no end of deficit spending in sight for the rest of this decade.  This will generate public debt charges that grow from $47.3 billion in 2023-2024 to $69.4 Billion in 2029-2030.  These are swoon-worthy numbers that do not take into account the potential economic fallout of threatened tariffs from the U.S. and the effect this might have on nominal GDP, the indicator of growth (or loss) of tax revenues going forward.  Subscribe to KBR now to get the full report, and check out a summary of the tax measures below.

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The Urgent Need for Tax Reform

Winnipeg, which already has one of the highest residential tax rates in Canada,  is the latest city to propose a property tax increase this week.  At 5.95%, this is the largest increase in 34 years and is expected to raise $44.4 million dollars.  What is behind these tax increases, and why, when taken together with the convergence of other layers of tax, is tax reform so urgent in Canada today?

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Planning for Seniors in 2025

Will seniors be receiving a raise in early 2025?  Unfortunately, not, at least for the first quarter.  Adjustments to the benefits are based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), OAS and GIS benefits will not be increasing for the January to March 2025 quarter.

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Most People Miss Claiming Medical Expenses

Canada’s per capita spending on health care was among the highest internationally, at CA$8,119 and even so, the amount of money Canadians spend out-of-pocket on private health care and insurance also exceeds the OECD average, according to a recent report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).  This is especially difficult for cancer patients, for whom out-of-pocket costs can be astronomical.   A silver lining is that some of those costs may be recoverable through the personal tax system.  Here’s an overview of the kind of write-offs most people miss, and some of the complexities that come with the claims.

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Special Report – December 16 Fall Economic Statement

Canada’s Finance Minister is scheduled to release the Fall Economic Statement on Monday December 16. Knowledge Bureau will release a Special Report to inform you on the changes and in addition, based on our clients’ wishes we are announcing an expansion of our CE SAVVY Summit offering to accommodate tax training needs to accommodate the enormous volume of changes to forms and procedures expected throughout January, February and March.   

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