Fall Federal Budget: Will Spending Be Cut?

Canada has historically presented an annual budget since Confederation in 1867, even through periods like World Wars and the Great Depression, but we have recently experienced the longest period without a full federal budget in our history. By the time the next one is brought down, expected in October 2025, it will have been 18 months since the controversial April 2024 budget which introduced the doomed capital gains inclusion rate hikes. What can we expect?

According to a September 11 report from Stats Canada, households increased holdings of financial assets and reduced non-mortgage and consumer debt during the second quarter this year. The household debt service ratio, which is the total obligated payments of principal and interest on credit market debt over household disposable income, had the largest decline on record. It dropped from 14.54% to 12.40%.  Incredibly, there was only $1.58% of credit market debt for every dollar of household disposable income. But, is the good news temporary?

The extended September 30 filing deadline hasn’t arrived yet. But, according to the most recent processing statistics from the CRA, there are still 2019 returns outstanding.  And, with this unusual tax season soon to be behind us, top-of-class tax and financial advisors must start immediately to help Canadians manage tax debts, maximize remaining social benefit payments and plan to reduce taxes payable in 2020. It’s a tall order.

U.S. tax filers, including American Citizens living in Canada, will have received Economic Income Payments (EIP) based on income levels reported on their 2018 and 2019 tax returns filed in the U.S. Now CRA has confirmed in a technical bulletin issued August 31 that there is more good news:  the payments will not be taxable to residents in Canada.

According to a news release from the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), final rules were adopted to ban the payment of trailing commissions by fund organizations, such as order-execution only (OEO) dealers who don’t make investment suitability determinations.

The true financial test on how well Canadians will weather the financial storm brought on by the pandemic will occur in the months to come. A glimpse into that future is well described in a June 2020 report from the Bank of Canada. It suggests three catalysts, working together, that can lead to successful financial recovery:  

Should you buy a new car before year end to reduce your 2020 taxes?  It’s a good question especially because lucrative new tax rules were put into place for the write-off of most capital assets* on November 21, 2018.  Taxpayers can in fact, triple up on the usual first-year tax deductions when they acquire assets in the period between November 20, 2018, and December 31, 2023, and put them into use before 2028.