FILE YOUR NEXT INCOME TAX RETURN WITH CONFIDENCE As we welcome another tax year I thought it would be fitting to get to know what’s new for the 2018 income tax season in Canada. The last thing any Canadian tax payer wants to find out is that an expense is no longer being offered as you prepare to file your income tax return. This has happened to us but this year we took control and made sure we knew the answers that would affect our family and our income tax returns. Expectations and reality are two different things with income tax in Canada which is why I did not hesitate to bring in the professionals to have your 2018 income tax questions answered. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to ask UFile resident tax expert Gerry Vittoratos your most important 2018 Income Tax questions. Earlier this month I asked you, the fans of Canadian Budget Binder if you had any income tax questions you for Gerry so we could get answers to the most important questions YOU have. Below are your questions all answered by Gerry along with information from Canada Revenue. Everyone ALWAYS asks this question, so […]
The 2016 Federal Budget is in: What Does it Change for You?
IT’S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND DETAILS OF THE NEW BUDGET The new Liberal government rolled out their 10 year spending and tax plans on Tuesday, March 22nd. In a nutshell, the 2016 Federal Budget focuses on putting more cash in the pockets of low and middle-income families and on improving the infrastructure in cities and in aboriginal regions. If you don’t have time or just don’t feel like reading through the 271 page document, here is a summary of a few key changes that will affect the majority of Canadians and may affect you if you fall in the category. Are you in the “Middle-Class”? The definition is a bit unclear, but the new budget benefits families earning less than $150,000 per year and individuals in the second tax bracket ($45,282 to $90,563). Most of the benefits in this budget have been targeted to the majority of Canadians who fall within that definition, and marginal tax rates were reduced by 1.5% at the end of 2015 for the second tax bracket. If your family income exceeds $150,000 or your individual income puts you in a higher tax bracket, then you will not benefit from most of these changes […]
How the new anti-spam law in Canada affects your email subscriptions
SAY GOOD-BYE TO CANADIAN SPAM New Anti-spam legislation in Canada is just around the corner for Canadian businesses and consumers who need to know why it’s important to them. Every time I hear the word “Spam” It’s either related to the tinned delicacy (joking, I hate Spam) that was a product of the war or the infatuation that Monty Python had with said meat product. Either way I still don’t like spam whether it’s the tinned variety or the e-mail advertising type. If your email inbox has been inundated with emails from Canadian advertisers asking for your consent to continue sending you personalized offers and deals or other information, you’re not alone. No, you are not getting a flood of spam from these companies, they are trying desperately to get your attention due to the upcoming anti-spam legislation taking affect. Offering contest entries and free stuff such as continued samples is just a portion of what we have seen from advertising companies wanting us to confirm our intentions of receiving their continued emails. Email mailing lists are frosting for many companies because it is the way they reach the masses or “customers” to communicate important information that keeps them […]
For the cost of a stamp a disability tax credits application cost one couple $1629
TAKE TIME TO DO RESEARCH Applying for the Revenue Canada disability tax credit certificate was something I did to help our friends’ parents who paid more than they needed to. When someone doesn’t know how to do something they normally do research or call in the professionals to help them. Often you hear stories about how people were taken advantage of or how they paid far too much for a service they could have easily done themselves. Over-priced services My friends’ mother had not realized that she could claim disability tax credits until it was mentioned to her by her daughter. She wanted to claim for the 10 years previous so she could claim at least some of the money she had over-paid the government while working and looking after her very ill husband. Her mother had already tried accessing disability tax credits through a company that advertised online and charged her $1300 for the service to no avail. It reminded me of the time when my wife and I were filling out the immigration forms to become a permanent resident in Canada. You could hire a representative to complete the forms which you would need to […]
Free Trade Agreement: Planning for a stronger Canada
WHO CUT THE CHEESE PRICE? The Free Trade agreement in principle was recently signed between Canada and the European Union. It was hailed as a significant step to boosting the economy of Canada while having minimal negative impact for Canadians. Free trade So what is a Free Trade Agreement? Essentially it eliminates tariffs or taxes on cross border imports/exports making it easier for companies to trade products and/or services with neighbouring countries. It’s not just as simple as that though, there has to be limits or quotas set where each trading partner agrees to a set level. Depending on what the country exports or imports the most can determine what is set in the quotas. So for instance Canada has a lot of trees and the US needs to build a lot of houses, it would be in both of their interests to eliminate the tariffs on trees for, let’s say the first 100,000 tonnes. Anything past the 100,000 tonnes then tariffs will be applied so companies would have to budget their exports in order to keep with-in the quota. That’s great for Canada, they’re selling trees like they’re going out of fashion, but what’s the US getting out of the deal? They put […]
