Posts

COVID-19: Federal government passes Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy legislation

After an extraordinarily compressed timeline for debate and amendment, Bill C-14, the legislation to enact the new Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy that will provide relief to employers struggling to remain operational due to COVID-19, has received royal assent. The legislation is highly technical and laden with definitions and exceptions that make it complex—if there was […]

CRA headquarters

CRA announces new tax filing extensions as part of COVID-19 relief measures

The federal government today announced tax filing extensions to help individual Canadians and businesses manage through the COVID-19 crisis. Businesses, including self-employed individuals, will be allowed to defer GST/HST payments, as well as custom duties on imports, until June 30, 2020. The deferral generally applies to remittances that would be due between March and the […]

Taxation Specialists

COVID-19 Economic Stimulus: We analyze the tax implications

The federal government’s announcement Wednesday of an $82 billion stimulus package to offset the devastating economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak provided a modicum of reassurance to Canadian businesses. Ottawa’s message was simple: we’re here for you in tough times. The package introduced $27 billion in direct support for businesses and individuals, as well as […]

Carbon Tax

What does the federal carbon tax really mean for your business?

The first week of the federal election campaign, most pundits griped, was a notably dull affair. At least until Time magazine published ‘brown face’ photos of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. That’s when the horserace to elect our next government got interesting. Whether the PM survives the scandal remains to be seen. But when the dust […]

Don’t be fooled: HR law compliance is a finance issue, too

Virtually every CEO would agree that employment law non-compliance, a failure to take workplace harassment seriously, and the general flouting of accepted human resources standards, is unacceptable. Building workplaces free of anti-social behaviour isn’t just an aspirational goal, it’s a basic legal requirement in every province in Canada. That’s especially so in Ontario, which has […]

AI will revolutionize accounting, but not in the ways you might expect

Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere. In the news, on the minds of CEOs, in blogs such as this one. Canadian entrepreneurs are actively working to determine to what degree this burgeoning technology will impact their organizations and industries—and how they should be responding. That answer will vary depending on the sector, but in finance, we’re […]

Updated–The great entrepreneurial debate: whether to buy or lease a company vehicle

As Chartered Professional Accountants, the most common two questions we’re asked by clients is whether they should buy or lease a car, and whether they should buy personally or under their company name. Inevitably our answer has been, “It all depends.”  How long do you plan to hold on to the car?  Do you have […]

Tax efficient ways to make a difference this holiday season

This is the most wonderful time of the year—not to mention the season of giving. That’s why many organizations and individuals are taking the opportunity to give back to their community or their favourite charities over the festive season. Recently, the trend is for organizations to involve their employees and create team events where everyone […]

CRA employs aggressive new laws designed to catch terrorists in crackdown on tax evaders

The days of the Canada Revenue Agency taking a kinder, gentler approach to its relations with taxpaying business owners are long gone. From employing sophisticated algorithms to tightening rules around its own Voluntary Disclosure Program, Ottawa has become accustomed to using increasingly aggressive tactics to collect overdue taxes and punish alleged tax cheats. In some […]

What’s the difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion?

In recent weeks we saw the publication of a landmark investigation into U.S. President Donald Trump’s business dealings surrounding the sweeping real estate empire built by family patriarch Fred Trump, all the way up to the present-day management of the business under Trump scions Donald Jr. and Eric. Indeed, the venerable New York Times declared […]