The Canadian tax system is a “self-assessing system” which relies heavily on the voluntary co-operation of taxpayers. Canadians are expected (in fact, in most cases, required), to complete and file a tax return each spring, reporting income from all sources, calculating the amount of tax owed and remitting that amount to the federal government by a specified deadline.
Newsletter - Page 24 of 30 - Akler Browning LLP
Latest news and regulations from the financial world.
One of the more unexpected effects of the current pandemic has been the impact on the Canadian real estate market. In each of July, August, and September 2020 the number of home sales, especially in major cities, has set a year-over-year record and, in many of the same places, the vacancy rate for rental accommodation has gone up.
Since the pandemic began early in 2020, and especially after many non-essential businesses were required to close temporarily as a public health measure, the federal government has brought forward a broad range of financial relief programs for both individuals and businesses.
Two quarterly newsletters have been added—one dealing with personal issues, and one dealing with corporate issues.
The year 2020 has been one of significant personal and economic dislocation for Canadians. The ongoing pandemic and the resulting impact to everyone’s way of life has led many to reassess their current circumstances and, often, to make changes. For older Canadians, one of those changes is likely to be consideration of whether it makes sense to accelerate retirement plans.
Each year, the due date for payment of all income tax amounts owed for the previous year falls on April 30. In 2020, however, that payment deadline has been something of a moving target. Earlier this year, the federal government, in recognition of the financial disruption and hardship caused by the pandemic, extended the payment deadline by four months, to September 1, 2020.
Notwithstanding the ongoing pandemic, the real estate market in most of Canada continues to thrive and home prices continue to rise. Some of that may be attributable to the fact that, while prices are rising, the cost of financing a home purchase is near historic lows.
Most Canadians know that the deadline for making contributions to one’s registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) comes 60 days after the end of the calendar year, around the end of February. There are, however, some circumstances in which an RRSP contribution must be (or should be) made by December 31, in order to achieve the desired tax result.
When the Canada Pension Plan was introduced in 1965, it was a relatively simple retirement savings model. Working Canadians started making contributions to the CPP when they turned 18 years of age and continued making those contributions throughout their working life.
Between mid-February and mid-August of this year, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) received and processed just over 29 million individual income tax returns filed for the 2019 tax year. The sheer volume of returns and the processing turnaround timelines mean that the CRA does not (and cannot possibly) do a manual review of the information provided in a return prior to issuing the Notice of Assessment. Rather, all returns are scanned by the Agency’s computer system and a Notice of Assessment is then issued.