Tax Shock Adds to Family Heartbreak

Last month the sad story of an Ontario family who suddenly lost both parents in 2024 was shared in Burlington Today.  The tax outcomes were just as shocking as the two deaths from unrelated causes.  There was a cottage, a large RRSP and a big tax bill.   Some of the outcomes could have been mitigated with some planning.   I sat down with CTV’s Pat Foran to discuss the outcomes – with a message important to family planning.  

The CRA launched their “Serving Canadians Better” consultation on April 23, 2019, closing it to commentary on June 18, 2019, in the height of tax season. It wasn’t the best time to hear from tax filing pros, but the feedback proved interesting, nonetheless. Turns out Canadians really want three big improvements from their tax department.

Should corporate owner-managers be removing corporate assets before year-end in defense of the passive investment income rules? How has retirement income planning changed based on new tax laws? Those are just some of the questions you’ll learn answers to at the November CE Summits, featuring special guest tax expert, Larry Frostiak.

Investing in assets that have the potential to accrue in value can come with both risks and rewards. From a tax point of view, a capital gain on those assets has two distinct advantages: there is no taxation on accrued values until disposition (actual or deemed), and only one half of the gains are added to taxable income. Here’s why it’s important to fully understand the advantages:

It’s hot off the press and available online! Back by popular demand is Knowledge Bureau’s All Course Catalogue to provide you with everything you need to know about our education programs all in one convenient place, with all the details you need to make the right educational decision for your professional development and team training.

With Canada’s competitiveness in question, and many wondering if our complex tax system puts us at a global economic disadvantage, a new report from the Fraser Institute answers an important question. Does increasing income tax rates for high net worth taxpayers help or hinder Canada’s fiscal outlook?

Old Age Security (OAS) rates are indexed quarterly according to the consumer price index, and third quarter rates for July to September bring good news for Canadian seniors who received no raise in the second quarter of 2019.