Elbows Up: The Time for Personal-Corporate Tax Reform is Now

One can’t avoid the messaging of the economic pain to come. Our deteriorating economic relationship with our biggest trading partner will require us to “pivot and prosper” in order to emerge “stronger and more resilient” says our Prime Minister. While exactly how we will do this is still unclear, there is one clear opportunity: for both federal and provincial governments to initiate a significant personal and corporate tax reform in the upcoming fall budget.

It was almost unanimous: 89% of responders to January’s Knowledge Bureau Report poll question agreed—the $30,000 cap on claiming luxury vehicles has long required a raise to reflect more accurately the price of cars this century. Here are the significant comments that accompanied the vote:

There are over 28 million tax filers and two-thirds of them pay income taxes, on average at a rate of 16% of total income. The vast majority of those taxes - 70% in fact - come from employees, whose earnings are subject to tax withholdings with every paycheque.

According to Industry Canada, as of December 2012, there were nearly 1.2 million small businesses in Canada (businesses with at least one employee on payroll). But many don’t make it—even though they were profitable at the time of closure. Tax and business services specialists can help these businesses survive.

After an eventful two weeks in global politics and economics, the theme for the 2017 Distinguished Advisor Conference (DAC) appears to be squarely on point: Financial Advice at the Crossroads of Change.

If your goal is to shore up your corporate tax preparation knowledge on preparing returns for professional corporations, you will want to enrol in this new online certificate course from Knowledge Bureau, which has a special focus on the needs of clients who are financial advisors and medical practitioners.

Knowledge Bureau’s Distinguished Advisor Workshop series for January 2017, focused on advanced personal tax update finished in Winnipeg, Manitoba on January 25th.  The team at Knowledge Bureau would like to extend our gratitude to all our students who attended - your participation makes this a success.