CRA Financial News

No one likes paying tax on investment income. With marginal tax rates as high as 54.8 per cent on interest income for residents of Newfoundland and Labrador, and capital gains tax rates now over 35 per cent in half the provinces for individuals with more than $250,000 of annual gains, maximizing registered plan contributions has never been more important.  

Last week, The Fraser Institute released its 2024 edition of its publication Taxes versus the Necessities of Life: The Canadian Consumer Tax Index, which tracks the total tax bill of the average Canadian family from 1961 to 2023. It’s a fascinating read to see how much the average Canadian pays in taxes — not just income tax, but other taxes like property taxes, GST, carbon taxes and indirect taxes, as well.

This lyric comes to mind each time I get another piece of correspondence from the Canada Revenue Agency. My friends and family often joke that since I write a nationally syndicated tax column, where I occasionally highlight the trials and tribulations of ordinary taxpayers as they battle with the taxman, it makes me a target, which is why I seem to get audited by the CRA on a regular basis.

Automatic tax filing services have opened up to thousands of more Canadians as part of a national pilot project.

If you participate in your employer’s pension plan, the amount you’re able to contribute to your registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) is reduced by something called a pension adjustment (PA).

The Canada Revenue Agency issued a cautionary press release earlier this year about the importance of sticking within your tax-free savings account contribution limit. Titled Watch your limit – stay within it!, the CRA reminded Canadians that it’s possible to overcontribute to a TFSA in a number of ways.

Canadian parents are set to receive a top-up in child benefits on Friday amid growing cost-of-living concerns.

The disability tax credit is a non-refundable credit that a taxpayer — or their family — can claim annually on their return. It reduces the tax payable to offset the increased costs resulting from physical or mental impairment. The disability tax credit is also a gateway to other financial incentives, and many people who qualify do not realize it.

With taxpayers in eight out of 10 provinces facing a 2024 top marginal personal income tax rate exceeding 50 per cent, it should come as no surprise that some couples are looking at ways to income split, especially when one spouse or partner is in a much higher tax bracket than the other. Consider, for example, a British Columbia high-income taxpayer facing a top marginal rate of 53.5 per cent. If their spouse or partner earns under about $55,000, their marginal rate is only 22.7 per cent — a spread of more than 30 percentage points.

Reserve Bank of India has permitted banks to use the ratings of Brickwork Ratings India Private Limited, two years after the central bank had instructed its regulated entities that no fresh ratings would be obtained from the firm, which was pulled up by regulators for discrepancies. “On a review, banks are hereby permitted to use the ratings of the CRA (Brickwork Ratings) for risk weighting their claims for capital adequacy purposes...,” the RBI said in a statement on Wednesday. Listing out certain conditions, the RBI said that in respect of fresh rating mandates, rating may be obtained from Brickwork Ratings for bank loans not exceeding Rs 250 crore. In respect of existing ratings, Brickwork may undertake rating surveillance irrespective of the rated amount for the residual tenure of such loans, the RBI said.

By Simran Arora and Chris Warner

National Pension System (NPS) subscribers have multiple modes for contribution deposit including through Points of Presence (PoPs), eNPS, D-Remit, UPI, UPI QR Code and their employers. The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has reduced the timeline for NPS contributions received by Trustee Bank (TB) on any settlement day will now be considered for same-day investment (T+0). Earlier, the timeline was T+ 1. This new timeline for same-day investment will be effective from July 1, 2024, PFRDA stated via a circular issued on June 28, 2024. Also read: 18 major NPS changes in last 6 months: New online withdrawal facility to changes in NPS transaction statement Here are three things to know about the new changes.

The Canada Revenue Agency is ramping up efforts to recover overpayments of pandemic-related benefits.

One of the benefits often cited by small-business owners is the ability to write off various expenses for tax purposes. The misconception about what can be legitimately written off brings to mind one of my favourite Seinfeld episodes, The Package, in which Kramer convinces Jerry to say his stereo was broken during shipping to collect a $400 insurance payment from the post office.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made increasing housing a top priority by committing to “the most comprehensive and ambitious housing plan ever seen in Canada.” Unfortunately, he is also committed to muddled policies that kneecap his housing goals.

A recent decision by the Federal Court of Appeal serves as a reminder to all Canadians that if you actively trade marketable securities in your tax-free savings account, the Canada Revenue Agency may consider this activity to constitute a business, and the TFSA, rather than being tax free, could be subject to tax on its business income.

Rolling out an automatic tax filing system would mean Canadians receive more than a billion dollars each year in currently unclaimed benefits from not filing their tax returns, according to the federal fiscal watchdog.

Canadians who are self-employed must file their 2023 income tax and benefit returns by Monday, June 17.

To discourage speculation in the housing market, the 2022 federal budget introduced anti-flipping rules for residential real estate (including rental properties) that came into effect Jan. 1, 2023, and were designed to “reduce speculative demand in the marketplace and help to cool excessive price growth.”

John Tavares’ $8-million tax dispute with the Canada Revenue Agency, arguing the Toronto Maple Leafs captain is offside.In a reply to Tavares’ appeal with the Tax Court of Canada, the Attorney General of Canada (AGC) is disputing Tavares’ ask to have the CRA’s reassessment of his 2018 tax return annulled.The CRA, according to Tavares’ appeal filed in January, determined his 2018 income was $17.8 million higher than reported, and ordered the player to pay $6.8 million in taxes — over 38 per cent — plus $1.2 million in interest.The 33-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., signed a seven-year, US$77-million contract to join the Leafs on July 1, 2018. He previously played for the New York Islanders from 2009 to 2018.The $17.8-million sum accounts for a US$15.25-million signing bonus in the contract’s first year, and “was integral to Tavares’ decision” to accept the deal, his appeal states.The court document added Tavares’s signing bonus “was an inducement to sign an agreement relating to the performance of an athlete,” and should not be considered as salary or wages.The AGC took issue with that in its reply filed late last month.“With respect to the entirety of the Notice of Appeal, the Attorney General of Canada (AGC) denies that any amount referred to as a ‘signing bonus’ was a signing bonus or an inducement payment,” it reads in part.Tavares’ appeal argues that at the time, he was eligible for the reduced tax rate of 15 per cent under a Canada-U.S.

Freshly released data from the Canada Revenue Agency reveals just how much the typical saver was able to put into a first home savings account in the first year the account was on offer for Canadian home-buying hopefuls.