SMES: Carbon Tax Rebates on the Way?

July 15 was an important day for carbon-tax weary taxpayers. A Canada Carbon Rebate payment was  made to individuals who have filed their 2023 personal tax returns.  What about the long-awaited $2.5 billion Carbon Tax Rebate For Small Businesses? The delivery date and amounts to be received remain elusive, but one thing is clear: many businesses will have disqualified themselves by missing the July 15 date for filing 2023 T2 returns.  Here’s what you need to know. 

Cryptocurrency can't stay out of the headlines - just last week (on their first joint statement on crypto) the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said they had concerns with the safety and soundness of bank business models that are highly concentrated in crypto. No government wants any 2022 problems sneaking up - a truly notorious year for cryptocurrency with the collapse of FTX.

Both the CPP and EI contributions – which are mandatory – have risen. This will reduce take-home pay for employees. However, for those who are self-employed and must pay both the employer’s and employee’s portion of the CPP, things are about to get much more expensive and that could start to crowd out critical TFSA and RRSP investments for their futures.  

The 31st Actuarial Report on the Canada Pension Plan (CPP)[1] was released to the Finance Minister on November 14 and tabled in Parliament on December 14, 2022, as required by law, every three years. It is an important and comprehensive overview of Canada’s vital economic statistics from which to project the sustainability of the CPP.  What’s interesting about this report is how the uncertainties ahead may affect our rate structure and what a wealth of economic news it brings.

There’s an argument to be made with high inflation, a shaky economy and possibly lacklustre returns – that this year is the worst year to retire. Retirees NEED to know how long their assets are going to last. High inflation makes that tricky as retirees must draw down more income to pay for basics like groceries and gas. 

According to a report by Toronto- based research firm Strategic Insight, approximately $1Trillion in personal wealth will change hands by 2026, with roughly 70 percent of that in the form of financial assets.  In fact, this is already taking place, as Baby Boomers and Gen X transfer their wealth to Millennials and GenZ. 

Knowledge Bureau’s Advanced T1 Tax Update is more than an incredibly fun and full day of shaking out the cobwebs and learning about the “dark tax horses” with colleagues from coast to coast! This tax update has got you covered for the entire tax season with great online resources: a comprehensive online certificate course featuring over 100 retention questions,  Evergreen Explanatory Notes – a complete tax research library - plus Knowledge Bureau’s Discovery Tools – 16 sophisticated tax planning calculators!