Koroll & Company Blog

With the global pandemic this year, many changes have been made in all areas of our lives, making it difficult to keep track of what is due when.

To help simplify your obligations from a tax perspective, here is all the pertinent information you must know.

As the summer starts to wind down, students returning to their post-secondary institutions, and those just starting post-secondary education, must focus on the details of the upcoming school year: finding a place to live, choosing courses, and — perhaps most important — arranging payment of tuition and other education-related bills.

Over the next academic and calendar year, post-secondary students will find that a number of changes are taking place with respect to the rules governing the financing side of post-secondary education. Some of those changes will be welcome, and others will not.

On February 25, 2016, Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa tabled his fourth Budget. 

The deficit for the 2015-16 fiscal year is projected to be $5.7 billion, which is $2.8 billion less than forecasted in the 2015 Budget. The deficit is projected to drop to $4.3 billion for 2016-17 and to be eliminated by 2017-18. Furthermore, the government is also projecting a balanced budget in 2018-19.

The Budget does not include any changes to Ontario’s personal tax rates but certain personal tax credits are being eliminated.  In addition, changes to the so-called “sin taxes” are proposed.  From a business perspective, although there are no changes to corporate tax rates, there are proposed reductions to certain credits.

It shouldn’t be news to anyone that while the cost of obtaining a post-secondary education continues to rise, the government’s financial support of post-secondary institutions has, no less, declined. Additionally, the generous government student loan and grant programs available to earlier generations of students are no longer as generous as they once were. A realistic annual budget (including tuition, residence, and textbooks) for even a general arts or science undergraduate program now runs between $15,000 and $20,000. And, where a student decides to pursue post-graduate work or to enter a professional study program like law, dentistry, or medicine, those costs will skyrocket.