Finance Canada: No More Spring Budgets

Finance Canada announced on October 7 that Canada’s federal budgets will be brought down in the fall starting with the November 4, 2025 event; a significant departure from the spring schedule (February, March or April) that has been the cycle for several decades. This is going to affect many other events as we know them, and in the annual government spending approval cycle. There will also be a new budget process for capital vs. operational expenses. Here’s what you need to know:

The short answer is yes, employees can write off the cost of hiring an assistant if required to perform their employment duties, as verified by their contract of employment and a signed form T2200 Declaration of Employment Conditions by the employer.  Here are the details you need to know:

Budget 2022 proposes to provide an additional $1,200 million over five years, starting in 2022-2023 to increase both the investigation and prosecution of entities committing tax evasion. The additional funding will increase CRA’s efficiency and ability to combat tax evasion, which is something it already takes very seriously according to recent examples.

Act now! Today is the deadline for early-bird tuition savings. You don’t want to miss this opportunity to join Canada's most prominent tax educators, best-selling authors and technical experts for a comprehensive budget, retirement & estate planning update on May 18, 2022.

On occasion, a business will be selected for a review of their books and records by the CRA.  This is called a payroll examination, and the goal is to ensure compliance with respect to deductions and remittances, for your payroll account.

In an anticipated move intended to help rein in inflation, the Bank of Canada announced an increase of the benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point to 1% this morning. It’s the biggest increase from the central bank in more than two decades.

The April 7, 2022 Federal Budget introduced a new tax deduction for employees which will be in effect starting on January 1, 2022, assuming Royal Assent will be received. With the exception of some simplified filing opportunities, most employee deductions will require receipts and a signed tax form from the employer.  It is expected this will be no different for the new Labour Mobility Deduction. Here are the details to know: