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.

On February 12, the simplified method rates for calculating deductible auto and meal expenses for various important provisions on the 2018 tax return were finally released by the CRA. It’s an important missing piece for tax professionals and taxpayers alike, that in prior years was generally released in January.

Here’s a unique way to share some love with your sweetheart: make a spousal RRSP contribution by March 1. It’s a gift that’s a win-win to help secure your financial future together. Even better, it’s you, the contributor, who gets the RRSP deduction. Whether you have a spouse or common-law partner, here are six basic tips to know:

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is operating again after a lengthy shutdown of the U.S. federal government that began in December 2018.  A tentative deal was negotiated* late on Tuesday to avert yet another one. Still, Canadians with cross-border tax obligations should understand the specific implications of government shutdowns - like that of the IRS - and the backlogs they cause, and plan accordingly with their tax filing specialists.

For many organizations – especially those in the tax and financial services – now is the time to build team culture in advance of a busy season of client interaction. Success of the team depends on so many factors including the right skills, processes and evaluation. For leaders of the team, there are five essential steps to building team culture in good times and bad.

The CRA has been provided funding of $79 million over a five-year period, and $15 million on an ongoing basis, to support the development of an electronic platform for processing T3 returns. The goal: to address the government’s concerns about “significant gaps” in trust filing. By the year 2021, there will be new requirements for filing trust returns, and advisors in tax and financial services will need to come up to speed on this issue.

Returns that include income from rental properties are often audited, so, it’s important to consider your increased tax compliance burden as a real estate investor. If this is your first year with a rental property, it’s especially important to set up the tax reporting and documentation properly for an audit-proof experience. Use this checklist to help: