Time is Running Out for First-Time Home Buyers to Save in 2024

Owning a home, once almost considered a right of Canadian citizenship, has become a more distant dream for millions. The high cost of housing, coupled with a desperate shortage of supply, has turned the notion of home ownership into a near impossibility for many Canadians and those who have arrived in our country more recently.  The Tax-Free First Home Savings Account (FHSA) can help but it’s important to open an account before December 31, 2024 to create and preserve the contribution room.

Last week , on the tax filing deadline of April 30, 2024, the Federal Government tabled a 663-page Notice of Ways and Means Motion to introduce many of the provisions of the April 16 Federal Budget.   Included in the Bill, the Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1 were the following provisions; check out how they impact filing at the virtual CE Savvy Summit on May 22 – earn 15 CE Credits, too :

Although, in general, bare trust filings received a CRA reprieve for the April 2, 2024 tax filing deadline, other obligations remain and will carry non-compliance penalties.  Specifically, CRA has stated that the T3 Return and Schedule 15 (Beneficial Ownership Information of a Trust) will not be required for the 2023 tax year unless the CRA makes a direct request for them. 

Things have changed for Canadians in their pre-retirement planning period.  High interest, inflation and consumer debt are eroding away “savings room” for private savings, and longevity risk is increasing.  As a result, preserving access to indexed public pensions – the CPP and the OAS - is now more important than ever in retirement income planning.  Doing so is complex. That’s why, well informed tax and financial advisors can add significant value.       

The April 16 federal budget proposed capital gains taxes that penalize those who have used their knowledge, skills and resources to make responsible financial decisions and has widely promoted tax and financial concepts that are not quite on the mark.  That introduces the potential for three unfortunate outcomes: uncertainty that stifles investment and initiative, increased financial illiteracy and worse, potential injustices when tax changes are politicized to pit one generation against another.  Fortunately, tax and financial advisors can help to restore shaken confidence in their important roles as educators and intermediaries.  Here are the issues to consider:  

Successful retirements, from a financial point of view, are about three phases of planning:  pre-retirement, in-retirement and after-retirement. While a regular process for saving, investment performance metrics and deaccumulation methods are all very important, retirement income planning is really about one strategic goal:  what matters is what you keep.

It is so important for tax and financial advisors to help distill fears and knee-jerk reactions in light of the April 16 Federal Budget.  Join members of the Society of Real Wealth Managers on May 7 at Noon CT for a frank discussion and open forum online, about the need for tax literacy and a multi-stakeholder approach to intergenerational wealth management that pushes back on the fear factor.