Koroll & Company Blog

The year is almost over and that means you might need to make some last-minute decisions about your Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA). 

TFSAs began in 2009 and are a savings tool that allow Canadians 18 and over to earn tax-free investment income. Unlike certain registered savings plans, there are no limitations on what the funds in a TFSA can be used for.

Income splitting is a useful tax planning strategy that lets you move income from someone in a higher tax bracket to a family member in a lower tax bracket. This helps lower your overall family tax obligation.  

There are attribution rules that prevent Canadians from simply gifting money to spouses to substantially reduce tax owing but there are legitimate ways to give money to your spouse for income splitting purposes that are allowed.  

On November 16, in our blog “Don’t Wait to File! COVID Benefit Programs are Coming to an End”, we let you know that a number of COVID support programs like CRHP (Canada Recovery Hiring Program) and CERS (Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy) were ending. 

The good news is, later in November, some of these support programs were extended/expanded and new programs are being introduced. Here are some of the programs your business can still leverage:

The Ontario Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit (OIDMTC) is a refundable tax credit that was introduced in 1998 but there are many small to medium-sized businesses that don’t realize they qualify for the credit. 

When it was originally introduced, the purpose of the tax credit was to support the emerging digital media industry and help develop additional highly skilled jobs.

Earlier this year we shared that the Employment Standards Act (ESA) was providing eligible employees with up to three days paid leave for infectious disease emergency leave (IDEL) related to COVID. 

This paid leave started retroactively on April 19, 2021 and will continue until December 31, 2021. Paid IDEL is available for the following reasons:

With COVID restrictions being lifted and capacity limits increasing at restaurants, bars and other food and drink establishments, many businesses may be reconsidering their holiday celebrations with staff this year. 

But before you start planning, remember these four important business tax rules for holiday parties and gift giving in Ontario:

Since 2020 the Canadian government has been helping business owners across Canada with benefit programs to help cover fixed costs during lockdowns, as well as to boost rehiring as the country begins to reopen.

The Government of Ontario has launched a new online program to help make managing your business and non-profit corporation easier. This program is the Ontario Business Registry and it will allow you to do over 90 transactions online.