Thanh Ho Professional Corporation
12833 66 Street T5C 0A4 Edmonton, AB, Canada

To help Canadian businesses to go through the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government of Canada will soon release the new assistance packages. The 3 main parts of this help package are: 1- "The new Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS), which would provide simple and easy-to-access rent and mortgage support until June 2021 for qualifying organizations affected by COVID-19. The rent subsidy would be provided directly to tenants, while also providing support to prop...erty owners. The new rent subsidy would support businesses, charities, and non-profits that have suffered a revenue drop, by subsidizing a percentage of their expenses, on a sliding scale, up to a maximum of 65 per cent of eligible expenses until December 19, 2020. Organizations would be able to make claims retroactively for the period that began September 27 and ends October 24, 2020. A top-up Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy of 25 per cent for organizations temporarily shut down by a mandatory public health order issued by a qualifying public health authority, in addition to the 65 per cent subsidy. This follows a commitment in the Speech from the Throne to provide direct financial support to businesses temporarily shut down as a result of a local public health decision. 2- The extension of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy until June 2021, which would continue to protect jobs by helping businesses keep employees on the payroll and encouraging employers to re-hire their workers. The subsidy would remain at the current subsidy rate of up to a maximum of 65 per cent of eligible wages until December 19, 2020. This measure is part of the government’s commitment to create over 1 million jobs and restore employment to the level it was before the pandemic. 3- An expanded Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA), which would enable businesses, and not-for-profits eligible for CEBA loansand that continue to be seriously impacted by the pandemicto access an interest-free loan of up to $20,000, in addition to the original CEBA loan of $40,000. Half of this additional financing would be forgivable if repaid by December 31, 2022. Additionally, the application deadline for CEBA is being extended to December 31, 2020. Further details, including the launch date and application process will be announced in the coming days. An attestation of the impact of COVID-19 on the business will be required to access the additional financing. " Quoted News Release October 9, 2020 - Ottawa, Ontario - Department of Finance Canada

Important News on March 27 2020. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the government will now cover up to 75 per cent of salaries, a major increase over the original 10 per cent subsidy plan. The subsidy will be retroactive to mid-March and is part of a suite of small business measures being rolled out today. For more, please click link below.

As the Corona virus spreads communities and most non-essential businesses are closed or sharply reduced their business hours, tax accountants are hoping for an extension of the April 30 deadline so that they can cope with COVID-19. I hope CRA will do the right thing to combat this serious health crisis by issuing an extension ASAP.

Being an accountant in public practice and in that frame of mind sometimes I forgot that the general public is not updated with all the tax changes this year. Among those changes, the new Climate Action Incentive is available to all residents of Alberta. For details please see the CRA information below. On another note, since the Corona virus spreading is quite fast and following recommendations from health experts, I would like to ask those who have symptoms of flu please stay home and contact our office by calling or emailing, we can certainly do your taxes remotely. I would like to assure my clients that your taxes will be done, should illness presents an issue. Wish you all good health!

There are many tax scams that are too good to be true. This year's tax season is coming, please watch out for tax scams, faked letters from CRA demanding payments. As professional accountants, there are steps for us to help our clients and also to protect us from these things.

CRA’s new approach to deal with underground construction businesses.