Due to the proposal to deny deducting expenses related to non-compliant short-term rentals, some owners may consider selling their short-term rental property. While it is widely discussed that gains on the sale of a short-term rental property are generally taxable, the GST/HST implications of such a sale may be a surprise A March 15, 2024 Tax Court of Canada case considered whether the sale by a corporation of a condominium unit used for short-term rentals…

Individuals can start collecting Canada Pension Plan (CPP) retirement benefits as early as age 60. However, benefits are decreased by 0.6%/month (7.2% per year) prior to age 65 for a maximum reduction of 36%. They are increased by 0.7%/month (8.4% per year) that CPP is delayed past age 65 to a maximum increase of 42% if collection is deferred to age 70. In other words, monthly retirement benefits are more than 2.2 times as large…

A recent communication from CRA indicated that they have roughly 400 ongoing audits or examinations related to crypto-assets, including 125 “intent to audit” letters sent to taxpayers that they believe did not report income obtained through cryptocurrency trading on Coinsquare. In 2021, CRA required Coinsquare, via an unnamed persons requirement (UPR), to provide information on its 16,500 top users from 2014 to 2020. These letters provided the taxpayer with 45 days to voluntarily contact CRA…

In July 2024, CRA began issuing legal warnings and taking legal measures to collect outstanding personal COVID-19 benefit program debts. Individuals who have not responded or cooperated are being contacted if CRA has determined that they have the financial capacity to pay the outstanding amount. CRA encouraged individuals who cannot pay the full amount immediately to contact them and develop a payment arrangement.

The $2/day flat rate method available to claim expenses for employees working from home was a temporary administrative measure only available from 2020 to 2022; it is no longer available in 2023. As such, employees working from home can only use the detailed calculation when claiming expenses.  For 2023 and subsequent years, a deduction can only be claimed where one of the following criteria is met: i. the work space was the place where the…

On September 14, 2023, the Department of Finance provided details on extending the deadline for Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) repayments, including the following key elements: the deadline to qualify for partial loan forgiveness (by paying the non-forgivable portion) has been extended from December 31, 2023 to January 18, 2024; if a refinancing application is made with the financial institution that provided the CEBA loan by January 18, 2024, the deadline to qualify for partial…