Natalie Kelly

Tax Alerts

Tax Briefing(s)

AB – 2012 Corporate Tax Rates
For 2012, Alberta will levy a general corporate tax rate of 10%. Qualifying small business income below the small business threshold is taxed at the small business rate of 3%. The small business th...

AB – 2012 Individual Tax Rates and Brackets
For 2012, the provincial tax rate applicable to all personal taxable income for Alberta remains at 10%.The province of ...

AB – 2012-13 budget passed in advance of election call
The Alberta government has announced that a general election will be held on Monday April 23, 2012. It was also announced that the measures announced in the 2012-13 budget brought down earlier this...

AB – Corporate Net File for 2011 returns
Effective July 8, 2011, the Alberta Tax and Revenue Administration (TRA) offers Alberta corporate income tax filers the option of filing returns in electronic format. As the Alberta corporate incom...

AB – FAQ document posted on netfiling of corporate income tax returns
In July 2011, the government of Alberta introduced online filing (or netfiling) of provincial corporate income tax returns. Consequently, corporations whose filing deadline falls during the first h...

AB – IFTA fuel tax rate chart issued for first quarter of 2012
Alberta Finance has posted the North American fuel tax rates which must be used by all carriers holding a provincial IFTA licence when completing the IFTA fuel tax return.The chart, which ou...

AB – Interest Rates—2012
The province of Alberta levies and pays interest on underpayments and overpayments of tax at rates prescribed by statute and set at the beginning of each calendar qu...

AB – Interest Rates—2012
The province of Alberta levies and pays interest on underpayments and overpayments of tax at rates prescribed by statute and set at the beginning of each calendar quarter. The rates levied and paid...

AB – No changes to individual or corporate tax rates in 2012-13 budget
The 2012-13 provincial budget brought down on February 9, 2012 by Minister of Finance Ron Liepert did not include any significant tax changes.There were no increases in individual or corpora...

AB – Personal Tax Credit Amounts for 2012
For the 2012 tax year, the province will provide the following non-refundable tax credit amounts:Basic personal amount ……………………&hell...

AB – Property tax deferral to be made available for Alberta seniors
The Alberta government has announced that, in time for the 2013 property tax season, seniors in the province will have the option of deferring the payment of their property taxes.The volunta...

AB – Updated bulletins issued for International Fuel Tax Agreement program
Alberta Finance has updated and re-issued most of its information bulletins dealing with the province’s administration and enforcement of the International Fuel Tax Agreement.The updat...

AB – Wage subsidy to be provided to not-for-profit organizations hiring summer students
The province of Alberta has announced that it will once again be providing a wage subsidy to not-for-profit organizations in the province who hire summer students. Eligible employers include regist...

2011 individual income tax package available online
The individual income tax package for the filing of personal tax returns for the 2011 taxation year is now available on the Canada Revenue Agency Web site....

2011 T2 corporation income tax guide issued by the CRA
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has issued the income tax guide to be used by Canadian corporations in completing their corporate income tax return for the 2011 tax year.The guide is current...

Access codes for online filing now obtainable from CRA Web site
Taxpayers who received but misplaced an access code for the netfiling of their 2011 tax return can retrieve that access code from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Web site.To retrieve a perso...

Automobile deduction limits and expense benefit rates for 2012
The Department of Finance has released the automobile expense deduction limits and the prescribed rates for the automobile operating expense benefit that will apply in 2012, and they are as follows...

Bank of Canada leaves benchmark interest rate at 1.25%
In its regularly scheduled interest rate announcement on April 17, the Bank of Canada indicated that it would be maintaining the bank rate at its current level of 1.25%.In its press release,...

Bank of Canada maintains interest rates at current levels
The Bank of Canada announced, on March 8, that in its view no change is needed to current interest rates. Consequently, the bank rate will remain at its current level of 1.25%.In its announc...

Budget 2012: Capital Cost Allowance: Clean Energy Generation and Conservation Equipment
Under the capital cost allowance (“CCA”) system, an accelerated CCA rate (50% per year on a declining balance basis) is provided for investments in specified clean energy generation and co...

Budget 2012: Charities—Transparency and Accountability
Charities are required to operate exclusively for charitable purposes and to devote their resources exclusively to charitable activities. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a registered charity can engage...

Budget 2012: CPP Contribution Rate
The Budget announced that the 2010–2012 triennial review of the CPP confirms the financial sustainability of the Plan for at least the next 75 years at the current contribution rate of 9.9% of p...

Budget 2012: EI Premium Rates
EI premium rate increases will be limited to 5 cents each year until the EI Operating Account is in balance, and will then move to a seven-year break-even rate....

Budget 2012: Employees Profit Sharing Plans
Employees Profit Sharing Plans (“EPSPs”) are trust arrangements that allow employers to make tax-deductible contributions to a trust and require trustees to allocate to employees each y...

Budget 2012: Extending the Hiring Credit for Small Business
In recognition of the challenges faced by small businesses across the country, the 2011 Budget announced a temporary Hiring Credit for Small Business of up to $1,000 per employer. This credit was appl...

Budget 2012: Fair Compensation for Employers of Canada’s Reservists
The Budget proposes to provide financial support to employers of reservists, to offset costs incurred when part-time reservists sign up for full-time duty. Details of this program will be announced by...

Budget 2012: Gifts to Foreign Charitable Organizations
Subject to certain exceptions, a gift made by a Canadian taxpayer to a foreign charity is not eligible for the donation tax credit (or deduction in the case of a corporation) that would otherwise be a...

Budget 2012: Graduated Penalties for Late Filing
Budget 2011 announced a CRA review of the penalty structure for late-filed information returns. After working with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and other organizations representing ...

Budget 2012: Group Sickness or Accident Insurance Plans
The Income Tax Act identifies specific benefits that are to be included in a taxpayer’s income from an office or employment. The general rule is that employment benefits, provided ei...

Budget 2012: Medical Expense Tax Credit
The medical expense tax credit provides federal income tax relief equal to 15% of eligible medical and disability-related expenses in excess of an amount that is the lesser of (a) 3% of the taxpayer&r...

Budget 2012: Old Age Security Age of Eligibility
The age of eligibility for OAS and GIS will be gradually increased from 65 to 67, starting in April 2023, with full implementation by January 2029. An 11-year notification period, followed by a 6-year...

Budget 2012: Option to Defer the OAS Pension
To improve flexibility and choice in the OAS program, starting on July 1, 2013, the Government will allow for the voluntary deferral of the OAS pension, for up to five years, allowing Canadians the op...

Budget 2012: Registered Disability Savings Plans
Budget 2012 proposes a number of changes to the rules governing Registered Disability Savings Plans (RDSPs).Plan Holders: A temporary me...

Budget 2012: Retirement Compensation Arrangements
A “retirement compensation arrangement” (“RCA”) is an employer-funded retirement plan with its own scheme of taxation. Specifically, employer contributions to an RCA are ded...

Budget 2012: Salary of the Governor General of Canada
Budget 2012 proposes to end the income tax exemption for the salary of the Governor General of Canada, effective for the 2013 and later taxation years....

Budget 2012: Scientific Research and Experimental Development
Changes to the scientific research and experimental development (SR&ED) tax incentive program were anticipated for this Budget, owing largely to an Expert Review Panel on SR&ED which submitted its rep...

Budget 2012: Wage Earner Protection Program
The Budget proposes $1.4 million annually for the Wage Earner Protection Program (WEPP). WEPP was introduced in 2008 to provide compensation to workers for unpaid wages and vacation pay earned in the ...

CRA issues warning about new phishing scheme
Millions of Canadians will have filed their 2011 income tax return over the past few weeks and each of them will be expecting to hear from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) in due course, with a Noti...

E-filing services now available for individual 2011 tax returns
Around the end of February, most Canadians will be receiving the information slips (T4s, T5s, etc.) containing the information needed to file their 2011 income tax returns.The Canada Revenue...

Eco-ENERGY retrofit program ends early
The Minister of Natural Resources has announced that, as of January 28, 2012, his department has stopped accepting new registrations for the federal EcoENERGY retrofit program. The program was orig...

Errata sheet issued for 2011 business and professional income reporting form
The CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) has announced that an error has been discovered in Form 2125, Statement of Business or Professional Activities (for 2011), which was distributed earlier this year. A co...

Federal budget date set for March 29, 2012
Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty has announced that the 2012-13 federal Budget will be released on Thursday March 29, 2012.It is expected that the budget will be brought down around 4:00 EDT...

Federal government to phase out cheques in favour of direct deposit
Currently, about 77% of payments made by the federal government to Canadians are made by way of direct deposit into the recipient’s bank account. The federal government announced recently tha...

Finance proposes new restrictions on credit card issuers
The Department of Finance has announced that new regulations will be proposed to ban the distribution of unsolicited credit card cheques by federal financial institutions, which would include the m...

First payment of 2012 individual income tax instalment payments due March 15, 2012
Individual who are required to make instalment payments of income tax for 2012 must make the first of those payments on March 15, 2012. Such individuals will have received an instalment payment rem...

Guide issued for e-filers of 2011 individual income tax returns
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has issued its guide for e-filers of individual income tax returns for the 2011 tax year. The guide outlines federal and provincial/territorial changes to the tax re...

Individual filing deadline falls on Monday April 30, 2012
Individual tax filers, with the exception of the self-employed and their spouses, must file their 2011 income tax returns by midnight Monday, April 30, 2012. Returns which are filed online or are t...

Individual income tax enquiries line to provide extended hours of service
Until April 30, 2012, the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) individual income tax enquiries line (1-800-959 8281) will be available to answer taxpayers questions from 8:15 a.m. until 9 p.m. Monda...

Inflation rate for February at 2.6%
The most recent issue of Statistics Canada’s Consumer Price Index indicates that the year-over-year inflation rate for the month of February 2012 stood at 2.6%.Not surprisingly, the ma...

Inflation rate for March at 1.9%
While the overall year-over-year inflation rate slowed from the 2.6% posted for February to 1.9% in March, Canadian consumers will not be surprised to find that increases in the price of food and e...

Inflation rate stands at 2.5% for January 2012
The latest issue of Statistics Canada’s Consumer Price Index release shows that prices rose by 2.5% for the month of January 2012, as measured on a year-over-year basis. The rate for December...

Interest rates for second quarter of 2012
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has announced the interest rates which will be charged and paid by the federal government during the months of April, May, and June 2012. Those rates are as follows:...

NETFILE service for 2011 individual tax returns now available
The Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) NETFILE service for the online filing of 2011 individual income tax returns is now available on the CRA Web site at ...

New CPP election form now available on CRA Web site
Beginning in 2012, changes to the Canada Pension Plan will be made which will affect Canadians who are between the ages of 65 and 70 and, although currently receivin...

Obtaining tax information slips online
Recipients of certain types of government benefits, including Old Age Security, Canada Pension Plan, and Employment Insurance can obtain the tax information slips (T4A (OAS), T4A(P), T4E) needed to...

Prescribed interest rates for 2012
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has announced the interest rates that will apply to amounts owed to and by the federal government for the first quarter of 2012, as w...

Significant job gains recorded for March 2012
The most recent Labour Force Survey released by Statistics Canada indicates that job growth during the month of March 2012 was sufficient to bring the overall unemployment rate down to 7.2%. Overal...

The CRA now provides online Q&A service for business enquiries
Businesses which have registered through the CRA Web site for My Business Account can now get answers to account-specific tax questions online.The new service, which became available on Apri...

Unemployment rate down slightly for February
The latest issue of Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey indicates that, while overall employment was unchanged for the month of February 2012, there was a slight decline in the unemployme...

As you browse through our Website, you will see that we have not only highlighted background information on our firm and the services we provide, but have also included useful resources such as informative articles (in our Newsletter section) and interactive financial calculators (in our Financial Tools section). In addition, we have taken the time to gather many links to external Websites that we felt would be of interest to our clients and visitors (in our Internet Links section).

While browsing through our Website, please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments you may have - we'd love to hear from you. We pride ourselves on being proactive and responsive to our clients' inquiries and suggestions.