Finance Canada: No More Spring Budgets

Finance Canada announced on October 7 that Canada’s federal budgets will be brought down in the fall starting with the November 4, 2025 event; a significant departure from the spring schedule (February, March or April) that has been the cycle for several decades. This is going to affect many other events as we know them, and in the annual government spending approval cycle. There will also be a new budget process for capital vs. operational expenses. Here’s what you need to know:

How do you tap into the new $1.5 million tax break for businesses and who is eligible?  It turns out most business owners may be. Building on last week’s article,  “Complexity: Consequences of Tinkering with the CCA System”, we’ll expand on the details of the plan from the Federal Government to boost business investment as a measure to restart the economy as Covid-19 dwindles.   Here are the details.

CRA has been ramping up audit activity, according to 75% of tax professionals who said they’d noticed an increase when responding to our February poll. Here are the observations they shared:

Last week, CRA warned taxpayers that two of the proposed revisions for 2021 return are included on the T1 and schedules but will not be assessed until those provisions are given Royal Assent.

If you need answers to complex questions your high net worth families are asking about their income and capital after personal, corporate, trust and cross-border taxation, or when new triggers are driving financial decisions your clients want to make, working with a Real Wealth Manager (RWM™) can help you answer and execute on them.  This is particularly so in today’s complex world when financial peace of mind – and answers to tough questions – both are more difficult to come by. 

The tax filing season officially opened on February 21 for e-filing 2021 returns, while February 28, 2022 will be the opening day for filing T3 returns electronically.  The deadline for most Canadian filers is Monday, May 2 as April 30 falls on the weekend this year. As pros in the tax, accounting and financial services industries gear up for a busy season, there are other important tax filing and investment planning milestones to take note of, too.  Here’s a handy checklist to share with your staff and clients:

Did you really intend to make that claim on your tax return?  Intention is an important consideration when filing a tax return, especially if your client transacted in what is known as “grey areas”.  In other words, it’s not good enough just to report the numbers on the return; you’ll want to document the reasons for them too, especially if you are a small business owner.  Here’s why that’s important to your clients’ appeal rights down the line and why you need to get their help to document the facts properly.