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:

Our November Poll asked our readers to reflect on the tax consequences of deemed dispositions on terminal returns, specifically for RPP pension recipients and over 75% were in agreement with this question:   “Registered Pension Plan contributions are added to income in full on final returns of singles or widows/widowers. Would it be fairer to average this lump sum over the 24-month period prior to death?”  Some of your comments follow:

The First Annual Virtual Pension Conference for CCPCs hosted by Knowledge Bureau and Integris and sponsored by Richardson Wealth took place on November 30 with rave reviews! Check out some of the golden nugget moments experienced by the event’s virtual attendees.  It might  just inspire you to learn more and share your knowledge with your clients by signing up for the Personal Pension Planning certificate course.

Do you have complex tax questions difficult to find on the CRA website?  Are you too busy for long wait times on the phone with CRA?  At Knowledge Bureau we have a great solution to help you save time and money and answer more tax questions from your clients with confidence.  Plus, it links directly to all pertinent CRA forms, guides, folios, the Income Tax Act and much more!

Trouble finding qualified help for tax season?  Canada’s most comprehensive and popular advanced personal tax update is now taking registrations for the January 19 Virtual event featuring what our delegate call the “Tax Bible” – the comprehensive desk top reference coveted by tax and accounting professionals from coast to coast.  Train new and returning  staff in a new and improved hybrid live and online course that will help you to shake out the cobwebs and drill down on the detailed tax theory  or “dark horses” as well as all news from CRA and Finance Canada for filing 2021 tax returns.   Register by December 15 and receive a free lunch!

Canada’s personal amounts and benefits will increase by 2.4% for 2022, a significant jump over past years’ rates. Canadians can now earn more before reaching the top of their tax brackets and benefit from higher income testing thresholds, too. This is a great trigger for planning, particularly for retirees. But here’s the bad news: this indexation rate does not come close to the recent rise in the cost of food, transportation and shelter. 

The new tax filing rules starting November 2021 affect certain types of trusts, specifically express trusts and non-resident trusts.  Trust returns will need to be filed for tax years ending December 31, 2021 by the tax filing deadline of March 31, 2022.  Highlights on what these trusts are used for follows: