Fuel Excise Tax on Hold But Inflation is Not

The U.S.-Israel war on Iran has thrown global oil prices into turmoil and there is plenty of fallout for consumers. Travelling to Europe this summer? That’s in jeopardy, as jet fuel may run out.  Looking for relief at the pumps instead? The recently announced suspended federal excise tax on gasoline, unleaded aviation gasoline, diesel fuel and aviation fuel here in Canada will soften the blow, but only temporarily: it will be zero from April 20 to September 7, 2026. Here’s what you need to know:

CRA has been ramping up audit activity, according to 75% of tax professionals who said they’d noticed an increase when responding to our February poll. Here are the observations they shared:

Last week, CRA warned taxpayers that two of the proposed revisions for 2021 return are included on the T1 and schedules but will not be assessed until those provisions are given Royal Assent.

If you need answers to complex questions your high net worth families are asking about their income and capital after personal, corporate, trust and cross-border taxation, or when new triggers are driving financial decisions your clients want to make, working with a Real Wealth Manager (RWM™) can help you answer and execute on them.  This is particularly so in today’s complex world when financial peace of mind – and answers to tough questions – both are more difficult to come by. 

The tax filing season officially opened on February 21 for e-filing 2021 returns, while February 28, 2022 will be the opening day for filing T3 returns electronically.  The deadline for most Canadian filers is Monday, May 2 as April 30 falls on the weekend this year. As pros in the tax, accounting and financial services industries gear up for a busy season, there are other important tax filing and investment planning milestones to take note of, too.  Here’s a handy checklist to share with your staff and clients:

Did you really intend to make that claim on your tax return?  Intention is an important consideration when filing a tax return, especially if your client transacted in what is known as “grey areas”.  In other words, it’s not good enough just to report the numbers on the return; you’ll want to document the reasons for them too, especially if you are a small business owner.  Here’s why that’s important to your clients’ appeal rights down the line and why you need to get their help to document the facts properly.

In the 2021 Federal Budget, the government promised to return fuel charges to farmers in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta.  The form to apply for this credit (T2043) has just been released, and the government has indicated that the refundable credit should be claimed on the new line 47556.