Immediate Expensing Rules: Good Tax Policy?

Over the course of the last two federal budgets (April 16, 2024 and November 4, 2025), the rules for claiming Capital Cost Allowance (CCA) have been uncertain. The proposal to extend immediate expensing rules for certain acquired assets were paused for over a year and then re-introduced in a series of four complex measures which together with new rules for Scientific Research and Experimental Development have become known as the “Productivity Super-Deduction”.  A backdrop appears below. The key question: will this complexity be effective as an economic stimulator?   

Like many industries today, the bookkeeping, tax filing and financial services are undergoing a major transformation. A key issue that’s emerging: the control of private financial data and after-tax results in a digital world. Highly-trained specialists, can bring big value as financial intermediaries and risk managers for their clients who are concerned about control of their financial records.

Family businesses are facing the most explosive challenge in a generation.  A new book by Jenifer Bartman and Evelyn Jacks addresses the challenge head on, and explains how advisors and their clients who are business leaders can defuse this potential time bomb: late succession planning.  Advisors can also shore up their professional skills by studying the problem in depth in a new certificate course from Knowledge Bureau.

According to Statistics Canada*in 2016, 4.9% or 289,000 of 4.9 million seniors in Canada were living in poverty. Yet, more than one in ten seniors who are eligible for the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) didn't receive it in 2016-17. This is a big concern because, in fact, the number of seniors living in poverty is on the rise. So what’s the problem?

The CRA has been facing extensive scrutiny against their own service standards. Now, in a new initiative they are exploring ways for taxpayers to access their own accounts, protect their privacy, and verify their identity in government offices without the hassle of requiring them to bring multiple forms of identification. In addition, the initiative will make it easier for government agencies, banks and provincial licensing offices to share information with the CRA.

Despite the Bank of Canada’s recent interest rate hold and decreasing mortgage rates, many families are on the brink of being unable to pay all of their bills. This, as new carbon taxes are about to emerge in some of the hardest hit provinces. Early tax filing may help. 

One important change has been introduced that affects payroll processing in 2019: the rate applied to calculate the maximum Employment Insurance (EI) contribution amounts have been reduced, though benefit amounts remain the same.