Red Ink on the Prairies

A day after Quebec’s Finance Minister Eric Girard brought down a Budget featuring a $6.3 Billion deficit, Saskatchewan’s Finance Minister Jim Reiter tabled his government’s budget on March 19. Next up was Finance Minister Adrian Salas, who tabled the Manitoba Budget on March 24. The common thread: there’s lots of red ink on the Prairies. But that’s where the budget documents differ between Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Here’s the latest tax news and why it matters to the advice you give your clients.

Get the answers you need with just a few clicks – definitions, tax facts, examples, tips and traps, plus interview checklists and questions to ask your clients – with EverGreen Explanatory Notes.

Tax planning is not inherently abusive; and taxpayers are entitled to organize their affairs in a way that will minimize their taxes, including family income splitting.

CFP professionals registered with FPSC can now earn 30 CE hours towards their certification with our Tax Strategies for Financial Advisors course.

As a new FPSC-approved program, here is an excerpt from Tax Strategies for Financial Advisors.

A gift (either in cash or in kind) from your employer is an employment benefit. However, non-cash gifts and non-cash awards to an employee for the year with a total aggregate value less than $500 is non-taxable. The total value in excess of $500 annually will be taxable.

Close to 150 professional tax and financial advisors from across Canada are now certified to prepare files to defend their clients in the case of audit as a result of successfully completing the Audit Defence Distinguished Advisor Workshop recently held in Winnipeg, Calgary, Vancouver, and Toronto.