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Financial Issues & Answers for Everyone
A thorough analysis of today’s financial news—delivered weekly to your inbox or via social media. As part of Knowledge Bureau’s interactive network, the Report covers current issues on the tax and financial services landscape and provides a wide range of professional benefits, including access to peer-to-peer blogs, opinion polls, online lessons, and vital industry information from Canada’s only multi-disciplinary financial educator.
May 2025 Poll
Does the new government’s promise, expected soon, to cut the lowest personal income tax rate by 1% to 14%, go far enough to help Canadians impacted by high costs? What are alternatives in your view?
Capital Gains Changes: 89% of Pros Disagree
Almost 90% of tax and financial advisors who responded to our May poll say they don’t agree with the proposed capital gains increase on or after June 25, 2024. Advisors have an important role to play in ensuring that the June 25 trigger date for the higher inclusion rates will not unduly upset retirement and estate plans. Knowledge Bureau’s Advanced Retirement & Estate Planning Course, featuring session recordings from expert instructors on May 22 (available today) will help bring you up to speed on the latest issues affecting your clients. Here’s what advisors said:
Tax Tip: Writing of Accounting and Legal Fees
With all the extra tax filings clients have had to undertake this year including the Underused Housing Tax Returns and T3 returns for trusts, as well as their personal and corporate returns, professional fees payable will certainly have risen. For many, it will in fact have been an unbudgeted expense. Yet others, may be incurring legal fees to challenge CRA reassessments. Understanding how much of these fees will be deductible, can help ease the annual double-whammy: paying taxes and paying professionals to figure them out. Here are guidelines for deductibility.
Will CPP Survivors Receive More Soon?
The April 16, 2023 federal budget made brief mention of potential enhancements to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). The CPP death benefit, in particular, is in the spotlight. At $2,500, it has been unindexed, and it is sorely lacking for the funding of funeral expenses. Here is what survivors can expect to receive under current rules, and what to look for as CPP enhancements are announced over the next several months to improve benefits available:
Top Three Retirement Income Planning Questions
Knowledge Bureau’s Advanced Retirement Income Planning Course kicked off with a day long peer-to-peer learning summit that featured four expert presenters and a highly engaged audience of tax and financial advisors from across Canada. The online course is now available with recorded presentations and all the outstanding insights. Some of the top retirement planning questions coming out of the session appear below, together with insights about the value this 15 CE Credit Certificate course:
Critical Role for Advisors Requires Knowledge on Capital Gains Changes
The capital gains inclusion rate changes have invoke wide-spread concern about the best ways to preserve assets built over a lifetime to fund retirements and pass down important real estate and business interests. These tax changes will indeed cost average households significantly more money when they dispose of the assets that form the cornerstones of their net worth. Advisors have an important role to play in ensuring that the June 25 trigger date for the higher inclusion rates will not unduly upset retirement and estate plans. Here are five things that can be done:
