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.

Do you prepare and file information slips for clients? If so, make sure to include an early December 2nd closure of electronic services in your scheduling. Slips that are filed late or using the incorrect method will result in financial penalties to your business. The hard stop will be December 1st  and services will not reopen until January 13th, 2025. In addition to the earlier shut down, information returns filed after January 1, 2024, containing five or more slips must be filed electronically.

October 15 was the date that eligible Canadians receive the Canada Carbon Rebate (CCR).  Did you miss it?  There may be several reasons for this:  you didn’t meet age or residency requirements, you don’t live in an eligible province or you missed filing a tax return.  Here’s how to make sure you get what you are entitled to set up for the next payment in January:

This month the Finance Department announced changes for lenders and insurers to make mortgages available for those who want to build secondary suites on their properties.  This provides a good reason to discuss year end tax planning relating to real estate assets,  as the loans will be available on January 15, 2025.  Here’s what borrowers need to know:

With only a couple of weeks left to go until the 2024 Acuity Conference for Distinguished Advisors at the St. James Club in Montreal, November 10 – 12 Knowledge Bureau would like to recognize the contributions our partner organizations bringing their thought leadership to Montreal. We are pleased to be welcoming back AGA Benefit Solutions as a Bronze sponsor and invite you visit their booth in the exhibitor area.

It’s the time to celebrate our innovative risk takers:  the Canadian Entrepreneurs! Small Business week is Oct 20-26!  And what a ride it has been! The economy and business environment has changed significantly for small business owners and now too, they are changing the environment as they transition in the workforce. But tax rules bring audit risk to new entrepreneurs as well as transitioning business owners.  In short, there are plenty of demographic, economic and tax triggers that will help you open new conversations during Small Business and beyond in Canada.  You may also wish to introduce to them    the DMA™ Small Business Management Program, at a special rate, available only until the end of the month.

In 2013, author and commentator Mark Milke penned a book which ought to have been on every bookshelf in this country. It was titled “Tax Me, I’m Canadian.”  While some of the provisions of the Tax Act in that edition may no longer apply, it is still very much worth the read. Milke lays bare the many and varied ways our governments take our money away from us. (Yes. It is our money, not theirs).  Now, another new tax regime is being contemplated: a tax on privately owned, vacant land and the reasons may surprise you. You may wish to let your clients know about this.