Red Ink on the Prairies

A day after Quebec’s Finance Minister Eric Girard brought down a Budget featuring a $6.3 Billion deficit, Saskatchewan’s Finance Minister Jim Reiter tabled his government’s budget on March 19. Next up was Finance Minister Adrian Salas, who tabled the Manitoba Budget on March 24. The common thread: there’s lots of red ink on the Prairies. But that’s where the budget documents differ between Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Here’s the latest tax news and why it matters to the advice you give your clients.

The current scheme of reporting capital gains, by including 50% of taxable gains in income, may be increased to 75% depending on the results of the next election. Does it make sense for the economy and its Canadian investors to do so? Not in the absence of inflation adjusting. Here’s how the math works.

Individual income tax filing statistics for the 2018 tax year to July 2 show that more than 28.5 million Canadians have filed this season. That’s down from the nearly 30 million last year. So are average tax refunds, which now sit at $1,706 compared to $1,765. It’s an important opportunity for tax specialists to review prior filed returns and find out why, while also discussing several new tax changes occurring in 2019.

The CRA launched their “Serving Canadians Better” consultation on April 23, 2019, closing it to commentary on June 18, 2019, in the height of tax season. It wasn’t the best time to hear from tax filing pros, but the feedback proved interesting, nonetheless. Turns out Canadians really want three big improvements from their tax department.

Should corporate owner-managers be removing corporate assets before year-end in defense of the passive investment income rules? How has retirement income planning changed based on new tax laws? Those are just some of the questions you’ll learn answers to at the November CE Summits, featuring special guest tax expert, Larry Frostiak.

Investing in assets that have the potential to accrue in value can come with both risks and rewards. From a tax point of view, a capital gain on those assets has two distinct advantages: there is no taxation on accrued values until disposition (actual or deemed), and only one half of the gains are added to taxable income. Here’s why it’s important to fully understand the advantages:

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