Peter Wiesner CPA, CA, LPA
367 Otton Road L3X 1E5 Newmarket, ON, Canada

It's been a busy month preparing for the holidays for everyone, but the Canadian government has been busy preparing taxpayer changes as well. Here are the highlights: Amendment to the Income Tax Act to lower taxes for the middle class, and people working hard to join the middle class, by increasing the Basic Personal Amount (BPA) to $15,000 by 2023.... 2020 Climate Action Incentive payment amounts for residents of provinces that have not adopted the federal system or otherwise met the federal stringency requirements for pricing carbon pollution: Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Individuals will be able to claim these amounts through their 2019 personal income tax returns. Reconfirmed that it will proceed to reform employee stock option plans. For details, click on the link below this post. #taxupdate #taxpreparation #accountant

Looking to save some money at tax time? Here are my suggestions on what you can do before December 31 to prepare for tax season in areas such as: Income tax instalments TFSAs... RRSPs RRIFs Charitable donations Political party donations RESPs/RDSPs Home buyer & Life long learning plans Income sharing If you do your homework and contributions before the holidays, you'll be in better shape this spring. #taxpreparation #taxexperts #accountingtips #yearend

Now that the Federal election has passed and a Liberal Minority government has arisen the impact on tax policy is now uncertain. Depending on which issues the government can get agreement on from the other parties will depend on what the tax policy becomes in the next budget. So firstly, the Liberal platform needs to be looked at to see what they want to do from a tax perspective. Then any common ground by the other parties to see what direction tax policy goes in the next 2...4 months. Click on my latest blog article in the comments below to see the full details on what the Liberal government would like to see with respect to personal tax exemptions, old age security, CPP, EI, Canada child benefit, vacancy tax, Canada training benefit, digital news subscriptions, stock options, minimum wage, capital gains, student loan interest and luxury tax.

Now that the summer is over and school has started it's a good reminder that Tax Court has to follow the Law and not rewrite it whether you like the law or not. In a recent case on June 10, 2019, the taxpayer filed an appeal when they didn't understand the rules and hoping the court could change the Law since they didn't like the current rules. Also, they didn't use a CPA or a Lawyer as part of going to Tax Court? Well, that didn't work out so good for the taxpayer that filed... the appeal to the Tax Court. The taxpayer was hoping the RRSP withdrawals wouldn't count towards annual income for EI purposes. Judge Lafleur gives a great summary on the definition of Income for EI Clawback purposes. The Taxpayer did eventually see the light and I am sure they wasted the Court filing fee, a few days to prepare the documents in order to go to Tax Court, and their time to attend Tax Court which was essential a learning process for the Taxpayer and not good use of time and/or money. The Judge explains the situation to the taxpayer (Mr. Meyer) in a nice way as follows; (see link in the comments below) See more

Have you heard of a video legacy before? When we're helping people with their #estate plans, it is usually pretty straight forward for the distribution of assets. However, the softer issues may be overlooked in the will. ... This is where it would be useful to create a video legacy for surviving family members to view after their loved one passes. Creating a video legacy will help ensure overall family harmony. There is an app for this called Record Me Now. The app was originally developed so children who lost their parents when they were young would have something to connect with their deceased parents. However, anyone can use it. The app is non-denominational, private and completely free. If you've been updating your #will recently, this would be a great addition to it. It's important to think about what message you're leaving for your loved ones.