Back to School Tax Breaks

Like tax season, back-to-school season rolls around annually with certainty. But in today’s inflationary environment, the start-up costs for getting the family organizing for the school year may seem daunting. The good news is that tax and financial advisors can help clients understand their tax planning options and manage all the receipts that can lead to tax breaks later in the spring during tax filing time. Here’s a primer of topics you may wish to discuss:

Will the federal government soon find a new revenue source for Employment Insurance?  Will gig economy workers soon qualify for EI?  The answer may be yes, based on upcoming consultations on the matter. 

Do you know someone who is a commissioned employee? Do they know that they have more deductions available to them than a non-commissioned employee?  Professionals from the tax accounting and financial services industries would add big value to the relationship with these clients before year end, in helping them decipher the difference in write-offs and making sure they gather documentation.  Here is what's important when discussing the deductions for employees.

Did you know that housing investment has outgrown business investment for the first time since 1961 and housing investment currently sits at 71% of GDP and is growing at two times the rate of the economy? Canadians are devoting more capital to housing and with that shift in investing activity, there may be room for year end financial planning to mitigate upcoming risks on the horizon.  One of them is rising prices – interest and inflation, for example.    

Knowledge is power, and if you are looking to train new and returning employees for the upcoming tax season, it can also be government sponsored.  The Canada Job Grant could potentially help fund employee training for tax season for up to $15,000 per trainee in certain jurisdictions.  One of our clients received that funding for Knowledge Bureau training in less than two weeks.   What are the granting and funding options when you need to train staff in a hurry?  It depends on where you live.  Here are the details.

Did you know that just under 200,000 people still owed money to CRA for the 2014 tax year going into the last holiday season? That’s less than 1% of all individual tax filers and they don’t owe that much:  the median gap is $780 per individual. But owing CRA money can be very expensive. Here is how they are calculated and what you can do to speed up tax bill delinquency to start this year’s holiday season on sounder financial footing:

Knowledge Bureau’s acclaimed Advanced T1 Tax Update  for 2021 T1 Returns is coming soon on January 19, 2022! Loaded with new information from highly esteemed tax specialists and features a comprehensive Knowledge Journal and Desk Top Reference packed with “Dark Horses” – little known tax facts and theory that will make a big difference filing more accurate returns in tax season 2022.  Register by December 15 to receive this valuable desk top reference and your lunch, all included in your tax-deductible tuition fees!