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.

“As we look back and move forward, we would all be advised to remember that pride goes before the fall.” Former Bank of Canada Governor, Mark Carney in Geneva, 2010

Because employers are generally required to pay for the premises, assets and supplies used up by their employees in performing their duties, the employees themselves have few out-of-pocket costs to claim on the tax return. In some cases, the employee will have expenditures, but to claim them, very specific procedures must be followed.

For many taxpayers, the end of February marks the deadline for the annual ritual of contributing to their RRSP.  This year the contribution deadline for 2016 is March 1, 2017.  But is this last-minute rush to contribute the best course of action?

Retirement is one of life’s most exciting times: a time for exploration, shift in focus and demand for new knowledge and skills. For most clients, it is new territory and as a caring advisor it’s a wonderful opportunity to ‘ride shotgun’.

There are only a few days left to enter this month’s skill-testing financial trivia question to win a free registration to the DAC in Kelowna, where this year’s theme will be:  Financial Advice at the Crossroads of Change.

If you are working as a professional in the tax, bookkeeping or financial services, it is critical to know the upcoming federal budget changes and their effect on personal, corporate and cross border planning in 2017, 2018 and beyond.