Fall Federal Budget: Will Spending Be Cut?

Canada has historically presented an annual budget since Confederation in 1867, even through periods like World Wars and the Great Depression, but we have recently experienced the longest period without a full federal budget in our history. By the time the next one is brought down, expected in October 2025, it will have been 18 months since the controversial April 2024 budget which introduced the doomed capital gains inclusion rate hikes. What can we expect?

In this CE Savvy Mini Summit half day live virtual event, participants will learn how to confidently file simple tax returns at a high level.  This event is part of a 4-part training series with a focus on how to file the T1 tax forms and is ideal for new, rookie tax preparers, financial advisors who interact with clients who have tax-related questions and anyone new to tax filing in Canada. As part of this training program, you are automatically enrolled in Canada’s Income Tax Fundamentals Course. Check out the agenda and register now to upskill your team before the upcoming tax season!

Train your team with an updated version of Canada’s Income Tax Course, coming February 5! Great for staff training ahead of tax season, and recommended for those that have no prior tax or financial services work experience! Don’t miss this opportunity to pre-register and access them most current tax filing course out there. This certificate course is 20 hours, 8 learning chapters, 12 true-to-life studies using professional tax software.

According to the 2025 Canada Salary Guide released by Robert Half, Competition is intense for skilled finance and accounting talent, and to compete businesses need to meet or beat market salary rates in order to retain professional staff with specialized in-demand skills. Many are training to upskill their existing staff in order to overcome technical skills gaps. Knowledge Bureau’s programs and courses leading to specialized credentials can help prepare business owners in the field with technical training their new hires need in tax and accounting.

Filing a tax return is difficult as the playing field is one of constant change:  the tax rules are in flux, particularly in the 2024 tax filing year,  with all the uncertainty around the capital gains provisions.  But in addition, taxpayers have undergone many financial and life event changes since their last T1 filings, each of which must be identified for each family member.  Here’s a primer for new year conversations between advisors and clients that cuts through the noise:  what matters is what you keep!

Will proposed tax hikes for certain capital gains incurred after June 24, 2024 survive now that Parliament has been prorogued? Maybe not, but at this time, the proposals have not officially died for tax filing purposes and in fact, CRA has confirmed on January 7 that it will administer the provisions as if passed for the 2024 tax filing year.

With Parliament prorogued with the resignation of the Prime Minister, and CRA’s announcement that it will administer the proposed changes to the capital gains inclusion rates, the capital gains deduction and other provisions of the April 16, 2024 budget, many have questioned how this is possible given that the proposals, and the related Notices of Ways and Means Motions (NWMM) have not been passed into law.