Start Tax Season 2025 on Sound Footing

Filing a tax return is difficult as the playing field is one of constant change:  the tax rules are in flux, particularly in the 2024 tax filing year,  with all the uncertainty around the capital gains provisions.  But in addition, taxpayers have undergone many financial and life event changes since their last T1 filings, each of which must be identified for each family member.  Here’s a primer for new year conversations between advisors and clients that cuts through the noise:  what matters is what you keep!

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.

In Canada and other western democracies, we operate under the rule of law.  But what does that mean and why does it matter when it comes to the work tax and financial advisors do and the contractual arrangements they have, including letters of engagement?  The answer is both simple and profound:  the rule of law may be one of the most important requirements for the creation of wealth. For these reasons, Knowledge Bureau has created the certificate course:  Understanding Employment and Business Contracts.

With the feasts of Thanksgiving behind us in Canada, we begin the fall with gratitude for so much, not the least of which is that we live in a peaceful democracy.  Notably there is a connection between that and the Nobel Prize for economic sciences, awarded on Thanksgiving Day this year.  It recognized three laureates for their research into why some countries are rich and some are poor.  Their conclusions could have implications for the advice tax and financial advisors give as well. 

Knowledge Bureau is pleased to announce that Onelife Wealth Management has been honored as the Marquis Firm of the Year and will receive this special award at the Acuity Conference for Distinguished Advisors, on November 10 at the St. James Club in Montreal. In this interview with Knowledge Bureau President Evelyn Jacks, advisor Christ Valentine, MFA, DMA, MFA-P, RWM, one of the 26 members in the firm, discusses why this award is especially meaningful.

It’s enough to make some Canadians question “Should we stay or should we go?”  Knowledge Bureau President Evelyn Jacks is pleased to welcome cross border expert Sharon Conrod and Financial Post tax columnist Kim Moody to help decipher how new capital gains inclusion rates, the AMT on donations, family business succession rules and cross border taxation all will be changed for year end tax planning 2024.  Doug Buss will bring it all together from a Real Wealth Management perspective as the virtual event closes with retirement planning issues for 2024 and 2025.