The dreaded Canada Revenue Agency audit. Everyone, including us, get a bit anxious when we receive a letter from the CRA informing us that a client of ours is going to be visited by their staff to perform an audit of their financial records. But realistically, there shouldn’t be too much for us to worry about since we’ve all been through the process a number of times before.

If you are over 65 years of age, an Alter Ego Trust or a Joint Spousal Trust can be used to assist with your Estate Tax Plans and to help minimize the taxes due on your death as well as assisting in avoiding Probate Fees. Probate fees in BC are 1.4% of the Fair Market Value of the assets in a person’s estate. But like anything, there are advantages and disadvantages of creating one of these trusts.

Well, we’ve just received the Fall Economic Statement from our Government. In there, were a bunch of tidbits. And one change that was found on the CRA website that could be helpful to some taxpayers.

As of December 30, 2023, there are new Trust reporting rules that come into effect. In our opinion, the impact on those that are already filing a Trust Return will not be as great as those that are going to be filing a Trust Return for the first time.

Running a small business in Canada is no easy feat. It requires dedication, strategic planning and a keen eye for financial management. We’ve discussed the purpose and benefits of having and analyzing a Balance Sheet and Income Statement, but there is one statement that isn’t as common, but is just as important, the Cash Flow Statement, or the Statement of Cash Flow.

The next financial statement that we’ll tackle is the Income Statement. The Income Statement can go by many names, “Income Statement,” “Profit & Loss Statement” or the “Statement of Income and Retained Earnings” are the most common ones. Our firm calls it the Statement of Income (or Loss) and Retained Earnings.

For a business owner, a set of Financial Statements can be an important tool in running your business. Generally speaking, there are three sets of statements that are commonly prepared by accountants. The Balance Sheet, Income Statement (Statement of Income and Retained Earnings), and the Statement of Cash Flows. In this blog post we’ll go into a bit of detail as to what information each statement can provide.

Recap of what the CEBA was for: The Canada Emergency Business Account was one of the initiatives that the Government of Canada created as a way to support business owners during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The initial support payment was a $40,000 non-interest bearing loan with $10,000 being forgivable if the amount was repaid IN FULL by its due date.

June = Halfway point in the Calendar year.  It’s astonishing how every year, January and February drag on a bit and then life speeds up in March and April, then May goes by relatively quickly and all of a sudden it’s June!!  For the kids, it marks the end of a school year.  For Public Practicing Accountants, this month is the last push to get all of the Sole Proprietor and Calendar End Corporation Tax Returns completed.  But what next?   

Phew! Personal tax season is done and dusted (well unless you are a Sole Proprietor, then you have a bit more time to file your tax return). But for the most part, our focus is now back on our client’s businesses and what we can do to help.

April is here and it’s time to stop procrastinating and pull together all of your tax slips, donations, child care receipts, medical receipts and work-from-home office expenses to prepare your tax return.

On December 15, 2022, Parliament passed Bill C-32.  In that bill, were some new trust reporting rules that will impact a number of people.  In particular, anyone who has a Bare Trust agreement. Why is this causing a fair amount of stress for business owners and professional accountants? 

A dividend is one of the most common ways that Owner-managed businesses will distribute funds to the owners. Dividends are also distributions of their accumulated after-tax dollars that companies will give their shareholders. However, there are some key points that shareholders need to be aware of when they decide that they would like to receive dividends. Here’s a quick and dirty checklist:

February is a month that is commonly used for paying out bonuses to employees. One of the reasons for this is so that employees can use those bonuses to contribute into their RRSPs prior to the RRSP contribution deadline. Another reason, is that it allows employees to be taxed on these bonuses in the following year, vs the previous year.

Happy New Year!  January is a time for Fresh Starts. For your business, it’s also a time to reflect on how the year went.  And as Accountants, its now the beginning of the time when we start reaching out to our clients to remind them of what we’ll be needing in order to prepare their corporate tax returns. 

re you someone who plans out their holiday spending in November?  Maybe even has all of their holiday shopping completed by December 1st?  If so, I’m jealous.  Every year, I have the best intentions, and some years are better than others, but for the most part, I’m a 50/50 person when it comes to planning my holiday spending.