Claiming Medical Expenses: Free Healthcare?

Free Health Care? Did you know that Canadians spend on average more than $1,000 on medical expenses each year? It’s estimated that government programs, via our taxes, cover about 72% of medical expenses, which means that we pay for the rest. Your clients may be over-paying on their taxes because they don’t know about medical expense deductions. 

Breaking news from Ottawa: The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO to follow-up on The Minister of Finance’s July 18 proposals, releasing a new report on November 23.

The transfer of assets to family members is an important part of retirement and post-retirement planning, as the tax consequences can be enormous. This is especially true now for average families as well as high-net-worth clients, because all final tax returns will carry with them the requirement to report any deemed disposition of a common family asset: the principal residence.

Do you or your clients use PayPal for business transactions? Did you report them on your tax return?  If not, you’ll want to correct those errors or omissions quickly under the Voluntary Disclosures Program (VDP), because you are in the sights of the CRA.  A federal court ordered PayPal to disclose information about all business account holders who received or sent a payment between January 1, 2014, and November 10, 2017.

As of October 17, 2017 new mortgage rules were introduced that could change the way Canadians approach debt management. Advisors, we’ve prepared this resource to share with your clients so they understand how mortgages play a significant role in debt management strategies.

If you owe money to the CRA, but you can’t pay, what is the best course of action? For example, if you or your clients use Paypal for business and were not previously reporting this income on your tax returns, the new CRA requirements may leave you in a position where you have to pay taxes you weren’t anticipating.

Next year’s Distinguished Advisor Conference (being held in Quebec City, Nov. 11-14, 2018) will explore how the work of tax and financial advisors fits into a changing demographic landscape under the theme “The Changing Face of Community: Collaboration with Impact.” Registrations for delegates and speaker sponsors are now open, and we are asking for your input on the topics you’d like to explore more closely at the event.