
Bill C-208 and How It Can Affect Your Family Business
Bill C-208 amends the Income Tax Act to reduce taxes that must be paid when a business owner wishes to sell shares of their farm, fishing or small business to their adult children or grandchildren. In the past, the Income Tax Act penalized business purchasers who were not arms-length from the business owner (unrelated). This bill reduces the tax that needs to be paid when an adult child or grandchild purchases the business from previously as high as 48.27% of the selling pric

Money Management Tactics for You and Your Family
Money management is important to be successful at paying your bills, saving for the future, being prepared for unexpected expenses, and planning a positive financial future for your children. To have a bright financial future, it is important to have a plan in place to achieve your financial goals. Society, as it is today, seems to think that people are born knowing how to manage money, as it is not necessarily taught to us by our parents, not covered in the school curriculum

Staying Calm During Stressful Situations
The past year and a half has stressed everyone throughout the world. No matter how good your coping mechanisms are, there has been an impact on our mental health globally. Experiencing the pandemic has made us: anxious, depressed, and traumatized. Some of us are lonely. The effects of the pandemic are reflective of your personality, lifestyle, and demographics. Disadvantaged groups have been challenged more by the pandemic and our work situation also factors into how stressed

The Changing Role of CPAs
The role of CPAs is changing as is evident by the new CPA exam implemented by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) effective July 2021. The changes in the U.S. were adopted through research from individual CPAs and CPA firms. CPA Canada is currently requesting feedback from stakeholders and subject matter experts on their newly released draft Competency Map (CM 2.0) by September 30, 2021, which reflects the changing landscape of the accounting profe

2021 Federal Budget
The new Canadian federal budget was tabled on April 19, 2021 by finance minister Chrystia Freeland. The federal deficit is estimated to be $354.2 billion for fiscal year 2020-21 and next year’s deficit is expected to be $154.7 billion. By the end of 2021-22 fiscal year, the federal debt is expected to be over $1.2 trillion. The budget introduced a $30 billion national childcare plan over 5 years, to reduce kindergarten prices by 50% in 2022, with a target of $10 per day by 20

New Simplified Home Office Deduction for 2020 Income Tax Year
With the onset of the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, numerous employers allowed their employees to work from home. It is for this reason that Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) introduced a new temporary flat rate method to simplify the process for claiming a deduction for home office expenses for the 2020 tax year. This is a personal income tax deduction to be calculated on form T777S (Statement of Employment Expenses for Working at Home due to COVID-19), which then needs to be attached

Blockchain: Responsible for Increasing Transparency
You have probably heard of Blockchain. It is the computer technology that is used for cryptocurrency trading, but this is only one of it’s many uses. In fact, they have partnered with Hyperledger, and several other high profile industry leaders (IBM, Intel, and SAP Ariba) to develop a way that Blockchain can be used by both business, industry and by the non-profit sectors. Using Blockchain technology and its partners, the result is: increased security, improved transparency,

Checklist for Preparing Your 2020 Income Tax
While doing their income tax, individuals and businesses often forget to claim deductions that could really benefit them and that might significantly assist in reducing the amount of income tax that they ultimately pay. If you are filing your personal income tax or your business income tax, you will need documentation to support the statements that you make in relation to your income tax submission. If you are or are responsible for any of the following, you will need to incl

Proposed Digital Services Tax
A proposed Digital Services Tax (DST) could raise up to $1.2 billion over five years in Canada, which the Federal government wants to introduce in July 2021. In its fiscal update on November 30, 2020, Ottawa said it will require multinational companies to collect GST or HST on digital products and services. Once implemented, the cost of digital services sold by foreign companies like Netflix, Amazon Prime (streaming video), HBO (streaming video), Hulu (streaming video), Spot

Business Ethics and Profitability
Business ethics refers to the moral principles (trustworthiness, respect, fairness, and caring) that guide the day-to-day operations of a company, which should be important to every business. They are constantly changing and evolving world-wide due to changing laws and society’s concerns. Some ethical requirements have been written into law over time by governments as minimum standards, such as employer-employee relations including minimum wage and discrimination, insider tr