Coming This Month: Changes to Business Registration Online

More changes are coming to how your clients will access Business Registration Online (BRO). Starting July 14, 2026, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) your business clients will only be able to access BRO through their CRA account. As usual, it’s the taxpayer who is responsible for on time remittances and the burden of proof in an increasingly digital relationship with CRA. Here’s what you need to know:

Old Age Security (OAS) and Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) benefits are indexed quarterly, but the formula for OAS increases is based on increases to the Consumer Price Index.  When the CPI drops, OAS payments remain constant for the subsequent quarter, as they did in the first three quarters of 2020.

The government has recently appointed a new Task Force on Women in the Economy.  However, what’s missing among the 18 educated and highly qualified women on the board* is representation from the many women who, through self-employment and independent business ownership, contribute so much to growth in our economy. That’s a big miss.  Here is why that is important: 

The timing could be better.  The federal government has chosen April 19, 2021 as the date for their first federal budget in two years,  in the midst of a third wave of a trying pandemic.  This could also well be the busiest week of tax season for taxpayers and their advisors. Yet, the important roadmap to economic recovery and the tax changes to pay for it will likely be set forth. Join us for a special Knowlege Bureau Report after the budget day.

Many taxpayers are unaware and in fact shocked to learn that the bushel of apples, gaggle of geese, or barter services of any kind provided in anyway, including those online, are taxable.  Whether they are paid in kind to settle a debt or simply as a trade, all have a commercial value that may have tax implications.

The CRA recently released an important technical newsletter to make changes to Independent Pension Plan (IPP) rules. Some experts in the personal pension planning space think that this is a good thing.  Here is what’s at the centre of the  issue and why.

Trading goods and services has become much more sophisticated over the years.  In particular CRA is watching social media for evidence of unreported income or capital transactions, for example, popular Airbnb rentals. They consider this new “platform economy” to include any economic and social activities that connect buyers and sellers of goods or services via mobile apps or the internet.  There are 4 platforms in particular that will be audit-prone in 2021.