Koroll & Company Blog

Teaching supplies can be expensive and while many schools provide the essentials, teachers are often expected to contribute their own art supplies, educational decor, puzzles/games and similar items. While these items may not be seen as essential to a child's education they are important in providing students with a positive learning environment.

It's for this reason that the Government of Canada has decided to reward the generosity of teachers and educators across Canada with a new tax credit called the Teacher and Early Childhood Educator (ECEs) School Supply Tax Benefit. 

While our health care system is not without its problems, Canadians are fortunate to benefit from a publicly funded system in which individuals are not required to pay personally for the cost of necessary medical care. Generally speaking, acute care provided in a hospital setting is covered by that system, as is more routine care provided by physicians in their offices. 

Canadians who, as the result of illness or accident, require care in our medical system are nonetheless often surprised to find that there is a long and ever-increasing list of expenses which are not covered by government-sponsored health care, or for which the individual is required to make at least a partial payment.

The fact that the cost of residential real estate in Canada’s largest cities has reached unaffordable levels for most Canadians, especially young families, isn’t really news any more. What’s relatively new, however, is that significant price increases are now being seen in cities which are within daily driving range of those major cities, presumably as individuals and families move further and further out in search of affordable housing.

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.

Home renovations are big in Canada right now, as many homeowners are opting to make changes and/or additions to their current residences rather than try to find a new home in the current real estate market. And, while the cost of renovating one’s home is usually considered a personal expense, which doesn’t qualify for any tax credit or deduction, starting this year there is an exception to that rule.

For 2016 and subsequent taxation years, a non-refundable tax credit can be claimed for home renovation work that's completed to make it easier and/or safer for a senior or disabled individual to live in their home.

As the end of the school year draws closer, and two months of summer holidays begin, families must start thinking about how to keep their kids supervised and busy throughout the summer months. Luckily, there is no shortage of options — at this time of year, advertisements for summer activities and summer camps abound — but nearly all the available options have one thing in common, and that is a price tag.

Some choices, like day camps provided by the local recreation authority, can be relatively inexpensive, while the cost of others, like summer-long residential camps or elite level sports or arts camps, can cost thousands of dollars.

The new Liberal government has proposed a few minor changes to personal income taxes for 2016 and beyond.

The election of a new government in Ottawa is often accompanied by changes to the way income is taxed. The last federal election was no exception. The changes announced in the March 2016 budget that will impact many taxpayers are as follows:

Springtime and early summer is moving season in Canada. The real estate market is traditionally at its strongest in the spring, and spring house sales are followed by real estate closings and moves in the following late spring and early summer months. All of this means that a great number of Canadians will be buying or selling houses this spring and summer and, inevitably, moving. Moving is a stressful and often expensive undertaking, even when the move is a desired one — buying a coveted (and increasingly difficult to obtain) first home, perhaps, or taking a step up the property ladder to a second, larger home. There is not much that can diminish the stress of moving, but the financial hit can be offset somewhat by a tax deduction which may be claimed for many of those moving-related costs.