The Gateway:  Maximizing the Impact of the Disability Tax Credit

In addition to reducing income tax through a non-refundable credit, the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) serves as a gateway to a wide range of additional tax benefits and government programs. Eligibility for the DTC can unlock enhanced credits, financial supplements, and long-term savings opportunities that go well beyond the tax return. Understanding how the DTC connects to these broader supports is essential for maximizing financial stability—both for individuals living with disabilities and the family members who support them.  Unfortunately, many taxpayers miss this credit and their tax and financial advisors can certainly help when this happens.

Knowledge Bureau is pleased to announce that Brent Gleeson, a Navy SEAL combat veteran with multiple tours to Iraq and Africa, and writer for Inc.com and Forbes.com will speak at the Distinguished Advisor Conference, Nov. 6 to 9 in San Diego. Early registration is now open until June 30.

"Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do." Pope John XXIII

Losing a job—especially unexpectedly—can be a difficult life event. You should know how to keep as much as possible of a lump sum that might come your way. The taxes on this lifeline can rob you of precious resources while you look for new work or arrange for your retirement income. There are also investment planning decisions to be made.

If you were subject to the OAS clawback on your 2015 tax return, your OAS cheques starting July 2016 will each be reduced by 1/12th of that clawback amount. But there is a way to reduce the recovery tax and increase your monthly OAS cheque.

A bright spot in economic news:  farmers are thriving!  Farming is no easy way to make a living, subject as it is to the whims of weather, disease, currency fluctuations, and more. So it’s good to hear from a Statistics Canada report published on May 25, 2016, that Canadian farmers are doing better than one might think.

When a depreciable asset is disposed of and the result is a negative balance in the CCA class, that negative balance is normally included in the taxpayer’s income (as recapture of CCA) in the year of disposition.