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?Timing is Everything: How to Apply, and Apply Again for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit
Canadians can apply for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) starting on April 6, but the government is hoping to flatten the curve of responses by having affected Canadians in a specific order, by birth month. Here’s how it will work:
The All New Virtual CE Summits
The All New Virtual CE Summits will be introduced to you on April 22 and May 13. We are so pleased to combine the power of a robust online learning course with an interactive Zoom Meeting platform with your instructors on May 13 to discuss the details of the COVID-19 Emergency Response provisions. Please mark your calendar now.
The Costs and Timelines: The Debt and Deficit are Ballooning
The government released costing and timelines for its various pandemic response provisions on April 1 and this, co-mingled with reports from the Parliamentary Budget Officer indicates a steep climb back to fiscal health once the pandemic crisis is over. Tax and financial advisors will want to shore up their knowledge on managing individual and family balance sheets against a future back drop of slow economic growth and potentially much higher taxes.
March Poll: Tax Professionals Unimpressed by CRA Improved Phone Service
If March 2020 roared in and out like a lion, so did tax pros’ views on CRA’s attempt to improve phone services so far this turbulent tax season. Clearly there is much more to be done as a full 70% of respondents said “no” when we asked: “This tax season CRA is providing online tools to estimate telephone answering and return processing wait times. Do you think this is a service improvement?” Here are some of their comments:
EI Eligible or Not: The New Canada Emergency Response Benefit
With every passing week Canadians are facing enormous changes due to the pandemic and governments are quickly addressing this with new measures to cope with the economic hardships occurring. This week’s revised Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) responds to criticism that the first attempt left too many people out and increases the $900 bi-weekly payment proposed to $2000 monthly for up to four months. Here are the details.
Pandemic Relief: Provincial Support
The province of Ontario postponed its formal multi-year budget forecast to November 15 yesterday, choosing instead to use the earlier-announced budget date of March 25 to table a COVID-19 fiscal action plan. The details are comprehensive, as is our round-up of provincial measures for businesses so far. There are some generous and genuinely interesting provisions. Take a look:
