Each new tax year brings with it a new list of tax payment and filing deadlines, as well as some changes with respect to tax planning strategies. Some of the more significant dates and changes for individual taxpayers for 2017 are listed below.
Allen Koroll
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Planning for – or even thinking about – 2017 taxes before the New Year has even been rung in may seem more than a little premature. However, most Canadians will start paying their taxes for 2017 with the first paycheque they receive in January, and it is worth taking a bit of time to make sure that things start off – and stay – on the right foot.
Most Canadians are aware that the deadline for contributing to one’s registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) is 60 days after the calendar year end – in order to be claimed on the return for 2016, such contributions must be made before March 2, 2017. Many also know that contributions to a tax-free savings account (TFSA) can be made at any time during the year. Consequently, when Canadians start thinking about year-end tax planning or saving strategies, RRSPs and TFSAs aren’t often top of mind. The fact is, however, that there are some situations in which planning strategies involving TFSAs and RRSPs must be put in place by the end of the calendar year. In other situations, acting before the end of the calendar year, while not required, will produce a better tax result. Some of those situations are outlined below.
On behalf of all of us at Koroll & Company, we hope you and your loved ones have a Happy Holiday Season and a Wonderful New Year!
HOLIDAY CLOSURE - Our offices will close mid-day on Friday, December 23, 2016 and will reopen on Tuesday, January 3, 2017.
While tax planning is best approached as an ongoing, year-round activity, the fact is that for most Canadians the subject of taxes becomes top of mind only a few times a year. Typically, that happens when the annual tax return is due, when the annual RRSP contribution deadline is looming, and for some, at the end of the calendar year.
There is, in fact, good reason to spend some time considering one’s tax situation as the end of the calendar year approaches. With the notable exception of (in most cases) contributing to one’s RRSP, any steps taken in order to reduce one’s income tax bill for 2016 must be finalized by December 31st of this year.
What follows is a list of the most common tax considerations that arise as the end of the calendar year approaches.
During the month of December, it is customary for employers to provide something “extra” for their employees, by way of a holiday gift, a year-end bonus or an employer-sponsored social event. And it’s certainly the case that employers who provide such extras don’t intend to create a tax liability for their employees. Unfortunately, it is the case that a failure to properly structure such gifts or other extras can result in unintended and unwelcome tax consequences to those employees.
Changes in technology and the Canadian workplace, over the past 25 years, have made the option of working from home, at least on an occasional or part-time basis, a common occurrence among Canadian employees. For most, the opportunity to take a break from sitting in traffic gridlock or rushing to catch the commuter train is a valued employment perk.
While advantages, such as these, would likely be enough to make working from home an attractive option, there is another even more compelling benefit. And, that benefit is in the form of tax deductions claimable for home-related expenses by qualifying individuals who work from home.
Once daily weather reports begin to include wind chill factors or frost warnings, the thoughts of many Canadian turn to the idea of spending part of the Canadian winter somewhere much warmer – most often, in one of the southern U.S. states.
And, while the anemic state of the Canadian dollar has required Canadians to downsize some of those plans, it is still the case that thousands of Canadian “snowbirds” fly south every winter.
