Can I do my own business tax return

Can I Do My Own Business Tax Return? Avoid These 4 Pitfalls

Properly filing taxes for a small business is one of the essential processes in maintaining a business’s financial health.

Small business owners wishing to reduce overhead and expenses may wonder – can I do my own business tax return? Yes, a small business owner can do their own tax return but there are a number of common errors that you should keep in mind if you choose to do your own taxes. Mistakes (innocent or otherwise) when filing a small business tax return independently can result in consequences/penalties from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

If you’re considering doing your own business tax return, you should give yourself lots of time so that you are not under the pressure of a fast-approaching CRA deadline, and keep in mind the many potential issues that may arise from doing taxes without an accountant. We’ll discuss some of the bigger ones here.

Not Filing/Paying Taxes on Time 

Most small businesses are calendar-year filers, which means the tax year ends 12/31. April 30th is tax day, as noted by the Canadian Revenue Agency, with June 15th available for self-employed individuals filing taxes.  

The CRA assesses a late penalty and/or interest on the amount of taxes due until the balance is paid. As of the 2020 tax year, the late filing payment was 5% of the amount owed, plus 1% for each month – with a max of 12 months of fees for unpaid balances. Note, additional fines are set for late installment fees. The late fees are even higher for returns from 2017, 2018, 2019. These steep fees and penalties are the fundamental reason NOT to miss a tax deadline. CRA extensions are available for specific instances but filing an extension does not delay the required payment of those taxes due by the original deadline.

Failing To Pay Estimated Taxes As Required During the Year 

Most self-employed individuals – filing as a sole proprietor, a shareholder in a corporation, a partner, or simply self-employee – are required to make payments towards their estimated taxes if they anticipate their payable taxes will exceed the maximum allowed. Note, minimum amounts will depend on the location of the business, the type of business formation, and the work being done. The CRA offers a calculation chart to help.

An accounting professional or bookkeeper can offer guidance on the appropriate amount that needs to be sent.

Mis-Categorizing Employees As Contractors

The employee vs. contractor issue tends to generate many CRA audits – which is significant because the determined status influences how an employer must manage employment insurance and other entitlement benefit deductions. The CRA’s rules regarding the taxation of contractors can be complex. Even if the contractor works from home and uses their own equipment during the hours they set themselves, they may still be re-characterized as employees under CRA guidelines.

Mis-classifying contractors can be quite costly to a business owner who may miss CPP (Canada Pension Plan) and other required deductions. The bottom line is that independent contractors are defined by their contribution to the business, not where or when they work.

In addition to the above-noted problems created by doing your taxes incorrectly, the following issues may also cause potential problems:

  • Late/Inaccurate Wage Taxes
  • Mis-reported Home Office Deductions
  • Under-Reporting Income
  • Travel Mileage Deducted Without Documentation
  • Inaccurate Inventory Counts
  • Unreasonable Corporation Owner’s Wages Compared to Shareholder Income

Not Choosing to Use a Professional Accountant

Although it can be quite tempting to follow “the road less expensive,” the amount of work required (as an accounting novice) and the potential consequences for making a business tax filing mistake are quite substantial. This makes it worthwhile to avoid making these costly mistakes when possible.

Even if you file your taxes on time without an accountant and remit the required amount, a small business owner may miss deductions for which they qualify simply because they lack the knowledge, experience, and skill to know they exist.

Accountants may seem like an expense you can forego until you realize that tax preparation and filing are complicated and, if done incorrectly, expensive. And while filing a business tax return only needs to be done once per year, the implications for mistakes are far-reaching.

Want to discuss your tax needs with no sales pitch? Schedule a free consultation and we’d be happy to answer any questions you may have, including, can I do my own business tax return?

Disclaimer:
Avisar Chartered Professional Accountant’s blog deals with a number of complex issues in a concise manner; it is recommended that accounting, legal or other appropriate professional advice should be sought before acting upon any of the information contained therein.

Although every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this post, no individual or organization involved in either the preparation or distribution of this post accepts any contractual, tortious, or any other form of liability for its contents or for any consequences arising from its use.

Fed Budget 2021 Personal measures

Federal Budget 2021: Personal Measures

COVID-19 Benefit Amounts – Tax Treatment

Budget 2021 proposes to allow individuals the option to claim a deduction in respect of the repayment of a COVID‑19 benefit amount for the year when the benefit was received, rather than the year in which the repayment was made. This option would be available for benefit amounts repaid at any time before 2023.

For these purposes, COVID-19 benefits would include:

  • Canada Emergency Response Benefits (CERB) / Employment Insurance Emergency Response Benefits;
  • Canada Emergency Student Benefits (CESB);
  • Canada Recovery Benefits (CRB);
  • Canada Recovery Sickness Benefits (CRSB); and
  • Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefits (CRCB).

Individuals may only deduct benefit amounts once they have been repaid. An individual who makes a repayment, but who has already filed their income tax return for the year in which the benefit was received, would be able to request an adjustment to the return for that year.

Canada Recovery Benefits (CRB)

Budget 2021 proposes the following in respect of CRB:

  • The maximum CRB would be extended by 12 weeks to a maximum of 50 weeks. The first four additional weeks will be paid at $500 per week, with subsequent weeks paid at $300 per week. All new CRB claims after July 17, 2021 would receive the $300 per week benefit, which will be available until September 25, 2021.
  • The maximum Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit would be extended by 4 weeks, to a maximum of 42 weeks, paid at $500 per week.
  • Legislative amendments would be made providing the authority for additional potential extensions of CRB, EI and related programs until November 20, 2021.

Employment Insurance (EI)

Temporary Measures

Budget 2021 proposes to extend many of the temporary EI measures commenced in 2020, including:

  • Maintaining a 420-hour entrance requirement for regular and special benefits, with a 14-week minimum entitlement for regular benefits, and a new common earnings threshold for fishing benefits.
  • Simplifying rules around the treatment of severance, vacation pay, and other monies paid on separation.
  • Extending the temporary enhancements to the Work-Sharing program such as the possibility to establish longer work-sharing agreements and a streamlined application process.

Other Benefits

  • Sickness benefits would increase from 15 to 26 weeks, as of summer 2022.
  • Self-employed fishers who submit an EI claim for the winter 2021 fishing benefit period would have extended temporary eligibility for the entire benefit period.

Consultation on long-term changes

Consultations on long-term reforms to EI will be commenced, focusing on the need for income support for self-employed and gig workers; how best to support Canadians through different life events such as adoption; and how to provide more consistent and reliable benefits to workers in seasonal industries.

Disability Tax Credit (DTC)

Budget 2021 proposes several changes which would provide broader access to the DTC. These proposals would apply to the 2021 and subsequent taxation years, in respect of DTC certificates filed on or after Royal Assent.

Mental Functions

The DTC is generally available to individuals who are markedly restricted in their ability to perform a basic activity of daily living due to a severe and prolonged impairment in physical or mental functions.

Budget 2021 proposes to expand the definition of mental functions necessary for everyday life to include: attention, concentration, memory, judgement, perception of reality, problem-solving, goal-setting, regulation of behaviour and emotions, verbal and non-verbal comprehension, and adaptive functioning.

Life-Sustaining Therapy

Individuals can qualify for the DTC where they undergo therapies that have a significant impact on everyday life. Under current rules, the therapy is required to be administered at least three times/week for a total duration averaging at least 14 hours a week.

Also, only certain types of therapy are allowed to be included in this computation.

To better recognize additional aspects of therapy for this computation, Budget 2021 proposes to:

  • expand the types of activities which can be included in the 14 hour per week minimum to include:
  • medically required recuperation after therapy;
  • activities related to determining dosages of medication that must be adjusted on a daily basis, or determining the amounts of certain compounds that can be safely consumed;
  • the time reasonably required by another person to assist the individual in performing and supervising the therapy where the individual is incapable of performing therapy on their own due to the impacts of their disability; and
  • reduce the requirement that therapy be administered at least three times each week to two times each week, retaining the requirement that therapy require an average of not less than 14 hours a week.

These proposals would apply to the 2021 and subsequent taxation years, in respect of DTC certificates filed on or after Royal Assent.

Canada Workers Benefit (CWB)

The CWB is a non-taxable refundable tax credit that supplements the earnings of low- and modest-income workers.

Budget 2021 proposes to enhance the CWB by, for example, by increasing the phase-out thresholds for individuals without dependents and families (from $13,194 to $22,944 and from $17,522 to $26,177, respectively in 2021). The phase-out rate is also slightly increased. Corresponding changes would be made to the disability supplement.

Budget 2021 also proposes to introduce a “secondary earner exemption” to the CWB which would allow the spouse or common-law partner with the lower working income to exclude up to $14,000 of their working income in the computation of their adjusted net income, for the purpose of the CWB phase-out.

These measures would apply to the 2021 and subsequent taxation years. Indexation of amounts would continue to apply after the 2021 taxation year, including the secondary earner exemption.

Northern Residents Deductions (NRD)

Budget 2021 proposes to expand access to the travel component of the NRD. Under the current rules, the claim is limited to the amount of employer-provided travel benefits the taxpayer received in respect of travel by that individual.

Under the new approach, a taxpayer would have the option to claim, in respect of the taxpayer and each “eligible family member”, up to a $1,200 standard amount that may be allocated across eligible trips taken by that individual, allowing individuals with no employment benefits to claim this deduction.

For residents of the Intermediate Zone, this effectively becomes a $600 standard amount.

An eligible family member would be an individual living in the taxpayer’s household who is the taxpayer’s spouse or common-law partner, their child under the age of 18, or a related individual who is wholly dependent on them for support and is either their parent or grandparent or dependent by reason of mental or physical infirmity.

Claims would still be limited to the least of this new number, the total expenses paid for the trip and the cost of the lowest return airfare to the nearest designated city.

This measure would apply to the 2021 and subsequent taxation years.

Postdoctoral Fellowship Income

Budget 2021 proposes to include postdoctoral fellowship income in “earned income” for RRSP purposes. This measure would apply in respect of postdoctoral fellowship income received in the 2021 and subsequent taxation years.

This measure would also apply in respect of postdoctoral fellowship income received in the 2011 to 2020 taxation years, where the taxpayer submits a request in writing to CRA for an adjustment to their RRSP room for the relevant years.

Defined Contribution Pension Plans – Fixing Contribution Errors

Budget 2021 proposes to provide more flexibility to plan administrators of defined contribution pension plans to correct for both under-contributions and over-contributions. This measure would apply in respect of additional contributions made, and amounts of over-contribution refunded, in the 2021 and subsequent taxation years.

Other Measures

Budget 2021 also announced plans for a wide variety of other programs, including:

  • Child Care – Providing new investments totaling up to $30 billion over the next 5 years, and $8.3 billion ongoing for Early Learning and Child Care and Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care, with the goal of providing regulated child care for $10/day on average, within the next five years.
  • Student Loans – Extending the waiver of interest accrual on Canada Student Loans and Canada Apprentice Loans until March 31, 2023 and extending the doubling of the Canada Student Grants until the end of July 2023.
  • Home Renovation Loans – Providing interest-free loans of up to $40,000 to homeowners and landlords who undertake retrofits identified through an authorized EnerGuide energy assessment. This program will also include funding dedicated to support low-income homeowners and renters including cooperatives and not-for profit owned housing. The program would be available by summer 2021.
  • Old Age Security Enhancements – Providing pensioners who will be age 75 and older as of June, 2022 with a one-time additional payment of $500 in August 2021. Budget 2021 then proposes to increase regular OAS payments for pensioners 75 and over by 10% on an ongoing basis as of July 2022.

Disclaimer: Avisar Chartered Professional Accountant’s blog deals with a number of complex issues in a concise manner; it is recommended that accounting, legal or other appropriate professional advice should be sought before acting upon any of the information contained therein.

Although every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this post, no individual or organization involved in either the preparation or distribution of this post accepts any contractual, tortious, or any other form of liability for its contents or for any consequences arising from its use.

Clearing The Confusion On Tax Instalments

You may have received an instalment reminder in the mail and are wondering whether you have to make these payments, how much they are, and when they are due. This article aims to clarify some of the confusion surrounding personal and corporate tax instalments.

What Are Instalments?

The CRA requires individuals and businesses to make monthly or quarterly instalments, towards their tax account so that taxes are received throughout the year rather than collecting all of its tax revenue in a lump sum.

Personal Tax Instalments

When you earn income without having tax withheld, or that does not have enough tax withheld for consecutive years, you may be required to make personal tax instalments. Income from self-employment, rental properties, investments, and certain pension payments may not have tax withheld at the source and can result in an unexpected tax bill later in the year.

Similarly, when working at more than one job your employers may not deduct the appropriate amount of tax from your paychecks. Therefore, it is important to review your sources of income regularly to check whether the appropriate amount of income tax is being withheld. If not, consider setting aside some income to cover the tax on this come tax time.  

When must you make personal tax instalments? You must make personal tax instalments if both of the following criteria are met:

  • Your net tax owing for the current tax year will be over $3,000 ($1,800 for residents of Quebec); and
  • Your net tax owing in either of the two previous tax years was over $3,000 ($1,800 for residents of Quebec)

The CRA will send out instalment reminder slips to those individuals who may be required to make instalments based on their prior year taxes owing.

If you are required to make personal tax instalments you may choose one of the following three options to calculate the amount of each instalment:

  • No calculation option – use the amounts listed on your CRA instalment reminder slip. This is the simplest method and is useful if your income, deductions, and credits are similar each year.
  • Prior-year option – use the net tax owing in the previous year and divide the figure by 4 to determine the quarterly payment amount. This option is useful if your current-year income, deductions, and credits will be similar to the prior year, but different from the second previous year.
  • Current-year option – estimate your current-year net tax owing and divide the figure by 4 to determine the quarterly payment amount. This option is best if your current-year income, deductions, and credits will be significantly different than in the last two years.

If you choose to calculate your instalments using option 2 or 3 above, the CRA may charge interest if the estimated net tax owing for the year is less than the actual net tax owing for the year. If your actual net tax owing is less than the estimated amount, any excess payments can either be refunded to you or be applied to the next tax year.

Due date:

Personal tax instalments are due quarterly on March 15, June 15, September 15, and December 15. CRA will start to charge interest on each installment amount from the date it was due if not made.

Corporate Tax Instalments

Similar to individuals, a company is required to make corporate tax instalments if it has Federal taxes payable of $3,000 or more in both the current and previous tax year.  Alberta and Quebec collect corporate taxes separate from the Federal government and have similar thresholds.  Companies in their first year of operations are not required to make instalments.

There are three choices available to calculate the number of total tax instalments a company will have to pay during the year:

  • Current-year option – base the total instalment amount on the estimated current year tax payable balance.
  • Prior-year option – base the total instalment amount on the previous year tax payable balance.
  • Combination of the previous year and second previous year – base the total instalment amount on a combination of the previous two tax year’s tax payable balances. The CRA provides helpful worksheets to calculate this method.

Typically, instalments are due monthly, but some smaller private companies may qualify to make installments quarterly.  All instalments are due at the end of each month or quarter.

GST/HST Instalments

Annual GST/HST filers that have a net GST/HST balance payable over $3,000 in both the current and previous return periods are required to make quarterly instalments that are due one month after each quarter. The filer has the option to calculate each instalment payment as either:

  • 1/4 of the total estimated GST/HST tax payable for the current year; or
  • 1/4 of the GST/HST payable balance in the prior year       

Whether you are an individual or own a company, setting out some time to schedule and understand your tax reporting and payment deadlines can help to reduce the stress and confusion surrounding your taxes and help set yourself up for a smooth tax year.    If you would like to understand your installment requirement better, please contact your Avisar professional.

Disclaimer: Avisar Chartered Professional Accountant’s blog deals with a number of complex issues in a concise manner; it is recommended that accounting, legal or other appropriate professional advice should be sought before acting upon any of the information contained therein.

Although every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this post, no individual or organization involved in either the preparation or distribution of this post accepts any contractual, tortious, or any other form of liability for its contents or for any consequences arising from its use.

New-Compilation-Standards

Compilation Financial Statement Standards

As a Chartered Professional Accounting (CPA) firm, Avisar’s services are governed by standards set at a national level. Recently, the standards that apply to compilation financial statements (sometimes referred to as a Notice to Reader) have been updated. Changes in the standards are normal as the environment in which businesses operate is constantly evolving and the standards must be revised accordingly.

There are several reasons why these standards are changing now:

  • The standards had not been updated in over 30 years and were outdated;
  • The new rules promote more consistency amongst CPA firms in the amount of work done on compilation engagements, particularly in understanding their clients’ businesses;
  • The new standards will provide more useful information for the users of compiled financial statements (e.g., lenders, bonding companies); and
  • They will also help CPAs clearly outline the work they have done on the financial statements from management’s responsibility for the financial information.

What you Need To Know About The Effect of These Changes:

The changes come into effect for all fiscal years ending on or after December 14, 2021. If your company’s next fiscal year-end is November 30, 2021, or earlier, these changes will not impact you until 2022.

We do not expect that these changes in standards will lead to a significant increase in fees in most cases.

These changes are focused on the standards around compilation engagements. If we currently provide you with a financial statement that has a “Notice to Reader” attached to it, you will be impacted. If the statements are audited or reviewed or we only prepare tax returns for you then you will not be impacted.

There will be two main changes to your Compilation Statements:

  • The report at the front of the financial statements will be titled Compilation Engagement Report instead of Notice to Reader. It will also be longer and include more information about the nature of a compilation, our responsibilities and management’s responsibilities; and
  • A note will be added to the financial statements titled Basis of Accounting. This note will include brief summary of accounting policies for the significant items recorded within your company’s financial statements.

For the most part, you won’t notice any significant changes in what we are asking for at the beginning of our engagement.

Important Points to Note:

  • Prior to issuing the engagement letter, we will ask a few questions about who, other than you, receives copies of these financial statements and for what purposes they use the financial statements. A typical example would be a bank for lending purposes, a bonding agent, or a minority shareholder;
  • Our engagement letter will identify these additional users and will include acknowledgement from you that they are in a position to obtain any further information from you that they require and they have agreed to the basis of accounting used in the preparation of the financial statements;
  • We will ask some questions about your business operations and your processes for keeping financial data and bookkeeping practices. This will enable us to draft the wording for the Basis of Accounting note disclosure; and
  • The information we will require you to review and sign at the end of the engagement to approve the financial statements, will look a little different than before.

In preparation for the adoption of the new standards, as we complete this year end’s financial statements on a compilation basis, we will set up a meeting with you to review the statements, how the upcoming changes will impact your company, and to ask you some additional questions in preparation for your next year-end.  After our meeting, we will provide you with a summary of the changes as they affect you and documentation of what we discussed.

If you have any questions regarding anything discussed in this post or any other matter that you wish to discuss, please reach out to your contact at Avisar and we will be pleased to discuss further with you.

Disclaimer: Avisar Chartered Professional Accountant’s blog deals with a number of complex issues in a concise manner; it is recommended that accounting, legal or other appropriate professional advice should be sought before acting upon any of the information contained therein.

Although every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this post, no individual or organization involved in either the preparation or distribution of this post accepts any contractual, tortious, or any other form of liability for its contents or for any consequences arising from its use.

in house financial statements

IN HOUSE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

Consider your external Chartered Professional Accountant when preparing in house financial statements.

To run an owner-managed business successfully, it is not enough just to track the movement of funds in and out. In-house financial statements provide the type of information needed by your external accountant are also essential because the external accountant is the intermediary between your business and the Canada Revenue Agency, creditors, a potential buyer and others who need the special financial statements only your external accountant can produce.

In House Financial Statements

Internal accounting systems process daily sales, purchases, and payroll transactions; effective owner-managers review the general ledger bank balance, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and the payroll summary and analyze the basic financial statements on a regular basis. Management needs these in house financial statements to meet some if not all of the following requirements:

  • All provincial corporations’ acts require financial data to support financial statement filing requirements.
  • Shareholders have a right to yearly financial statements based on recorded transactions in your in house financial statements.
  • Creditors may require regular financial statements to evaluate the quality and sufficiency of collateral covering a loan and to ensure the loan conditions are being met.
  • Potential investors may want to review monthly financial statements to evaluate throughout-the-year performance.
  • Comparable monthly historical in house financial statements give valuable information to a potential purchaser if the owner-manager retires or sells all or part of the business.
  • Financial decisions based on monthly facts and figures provide insight for planning and budgeting.
  • Comparative financial statements can reveal whether changes in sales or expenditures are creating variations in the bottom line. Such comparisons allow management to take corrective action and ward off potential working capital problems.
  • In house financial statements establish how management is guiding the company.
  • Financial statements provide information about the availability of sufficient assets to meet liabilities.
  • Operating results provided by financial statements inform management whether action is needed to increase sales, cut production costs, or reduce wage costs.
  • Properly structured income statements provide insight into the cost of production compared to sales. As a result, management can more rapidly decide whether sales prices need to be increased or job costs better controlled.
  • Monthly in house financial statements show errors in environmental, tax, payroll, pension, workers’ compensation, GST/HST or employee health tax remittances.

The external CPA usually makes some adjustments.

External Accountant

Before company accounts are ready for a third-party user, the external accountant usually has to make some adjustments to in house financial statements to provide the information in the form needed by the third party. Consider the following:

  • Data provided by an in-house system designed to give information about the day-to-day operations must be distilled into a summary format that provides information in accordance with Canadian financial statement disclosure requirements.
  • Statements prepared by an independent accountant lend credibility to the corporate entity because the preparation is independent of internal bias.
  • Reporting requirements change regularly and must be reflected in the financial statements.
  • Independent preparation of financial statements may identify anomalies within the corporate records, which need review to ensure they are correct. For instance, capital assets purchased may have been expensed.
  • Preparation of financial statements by your external accountant usually identifies items that are income tax sensitive such as shareholder draws, penalties and interest or personal use of corporate vehicles that may have to be adjusted.
  • An external review may determine whether the valuation of assets is accurate or whether capital assets should be written down or accounts receivable amounts should be written off.
  • The external accountant ensures that comparative figures are truly comparative, not only to ensure a better analysis of progress throughout the years, but also to provide insight as to the reasons for material variations in the event lenders or regulatory authorities question the differences.

Periodic In House Financial Statements

In order to prepare year-end financial statements, your accountant needs quality information produced by your accounting system. The regular preparation of financial statements allows your CPA to fully understand the financial performance and position of your business. Because CPAs have significant experience in a multiplicity of businesses, they are able to determine the benchmarks your particular business should meet and maintain.

Your Business Is Their Business

In the final analysis, most external accountants would agree that you know your business better than they do, but they know business better than you. Working with your accountant and helping them understand your business will ensure the financial statements provided to management, third parties and regulatory and tax authorities adequately explain the corporation’s financial position and operational results for the year.

Get a free review of your financial statements here.

Disclaimer:
Avisar Chartered Professional Accountant’s blog deals with a number of complex issues in a concise manner; it is recommended that accounting, legal or other appropriate professional advice should be sought before acting upon any of the information contained therein. Although every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this post, no individual or organization involved in either the preparation or distribution of this post accepts any contractual, tortious, or any other form of liability for its contents or for any consequences arising from its use.

BS PST Rebate For Machinery

BC PST Rebate: Select Machinery and Equipment

Updated July 2022

In efforts to assist in the recovery from the impacts of COVID-19, the BC Ministry of Finance in their Economic Recovery Plan announced that effective September 17, 2020, incorporated businesses will be eligible for a PST rebate on select Machinery and Equipment.

Who Is Eligible For The Rebate?

Incorporated businesses will be eligible for the BC PST Rebate on select Machinery and Equipment as further discussed below. The rebate will not be available to certain entities including, provincial and federal Crown corporations, charities and non-profit corporations, schools, hospitals, regional health boards, and agents of the government.

What Is Eligible For The Rebate?

To qualify for the rebate, the machinery and equipment must be:

  • Included in capital cost allowance (“CCA”) classes 8, 10, 12, 16, 43, 43.1, 43.2, 46, 50, 53, 54, and 55 for income tax purposes; and
  • Obtained substantially (more than 90%) for the purpose of gaining or producing income.

Incorporated businesses should be mindful of the income tax classification of their capital assets acquired between September 17, 2020, and September 30, 2021. Details with regards to these CCA classes can be found here:

The following are some assets that will not qualify for the rebate:

  • vehicles, other than zero-emission vehicles;
  • goods purchased to be installed as an improvement to real property;
  • goods purchased for resale by a small seller;
  • exclusive products purchased by independent sales contractors.

How To Apply For The Rebate

Incorporated businesses may make up to two PST rebate applications. The first application can be made between April 1, 2021, and September 30, 2021. The second application can be made starting October 1, 2021. The last day applications will be accepted is March 31, 2022.

Update July 2022: Please be advised that the deadline to apply for the BC PST Rebate on Selected Machinery and Equipment is September 30, 2022. Although initial correspondence from the Ministry of Finance indicated a deadline of March 31, 2022, this was extended by six months.

Disclaimer: Avisar Chartered Professional Accountant’s blog deals with a number of complex issues in a concise manner; it is recommended that accounting, legal or other appropriate professional advice should be sought before acting upon any of the information contained therein.

Although every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this post, no individual or organization involved in either the preparation or distribution of this post accepts any contractual, tortious, or any other form of liability for its contents or for any consequences arising from its use.

Important Federal Tax Updates

The trust income tax and benefit return filing deadline has been extended to May 1, 2020

The personal income tax filing deadline has been extended to June 1, 2020Personal income tax payment deadline has been extended to August 31, 2020

Although no changes to corporate tax filing deadlines were announced, all corporate income tax payments and corporate income tax instalment payment deadlines have been extended to August 31, 2020.  No interest or penalties will be charged on missed or late payments during this time. 

For more information on Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan, released on March 18, 2020, click here. 

Disclaimer: Avisar Chartered Professional Accountant’s blog deals with a number of complex issues in a concise manner; it is recommended that accounting, legal or other appropriate professional advice should be sought before acting upon any of the information contained therein.

Although every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this post, no individual or organization involved in either the preparation or distribution of this post accepts any contractual, tortious, or any other form of liability for its contents or for any consequences arising from its use.

2019 Personal Income Taxes At Avisar

While we understand that your personal income tax return may not be the highest of your priorities right now, it is still our preference to prepare and file your return by April 30, 2020.  We are actively encouraging all of our clients to submit their personal income tax information electronically as soon as possible in order to meet this deadline. All we need from you is to:

Complete our personal income tax checklist (with up-to-date contact information) and any other required tax organizers;

Scan your information, or use Office Lens to take pictures with your phone or tablet and convert them to a readable PDF;

Submit your information to us via our secure client portal.

We are also encouraging our clients to receive their personal income tax packages via RightSignature, our secure electronic signature service, as much as possible this year.  We appreciate your understanding and receptiveness to this option if it is not something that you would normally consider. Signing a document through RightSignature is a simple process that any of our administrators can assist you with if required. We are confident that our secure electronic tools will make submitting and receiving your personal tax information easier than you thought and look forward to working together to meet our goals and deadlines. 

From your perspective, it should seem like we are conducting business as usual even though many of us are not physically in the office. 

We are encouraging all of our clients to continue to interact with us via email, telephone, and even video chat if that is your preference. It is our hope that you are continuing to follow social distancing suggestions and that you will refrain from coming to our office unless you absolutely have to. 

Disclaimer: Avisar Chartered Professional Accountant’s blog deals with a number of complex issues in a concise manner; it is recommended that accounting, legal or other appropriate professional advice should be sought before acting upon any of the information contained therein.

Although every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this post, no individual or organization involved in either the preparation or distribution of this post accepts any contractual, tortious, or any other form of liability for its contents or for any consequences arising from its use.