Filing Taxes Insights

Running a business is a hard mountain to climb, and naturally, you want to keep as much of what you make as possible. If you’re self-employed, you already know how stressful tax preparation and tax filing can be – keeping track of receipts, staying up to date on the Canada Revenue Agency’s tax policies, and navigating tax season. So here are some tried-and-true tax tips to help you stay on track throughout the year, maximize your deductions and lower your overall tax bill. 1. Deduct business-use-of-home expenses Anyone who is self-employed and uses their home as their place of business […]

Generally, all businesses in Canada are allowed to deduct expenses from their income, that are incurred not only to make the business operational but also to sustain that business once it is up and running. The CRA has a list of the common business expenses that you can write off. The prerequisite for any write-off is that it must be incurred to earn the business income and must be reasonable under the circumstances.  There is a lot that you can claim. It’s about portion and being reasonable. This article covers the 8 best write-offs for small businesses in Canadian Tax Law. […]

Your tax status marks a strong impact on your Canadian Income Tax. The motivation for you to be an independent contractor and not an employee is that the independent contractors have far more write-offs and pay a far lower tax rate than employees. This allows them to retain more after-tax cash in their hands. The CRA uses specific criteria to determine your tax status as an employee or independent contractor. You can take steps to protect your status as an independent contractor if you understand them and how to implement them. So, how can you do it? Well! it all depends upon the contract between you and your customer or quote-unquote employer. The agreement must include specific clauses, so it passes the CRA’s test […]

There are so many legitimate ways that you can use to save your company’s taxes. Canadian corporations have two ways to minimize the amount of income tax they have to pay; do prescribed things that earn them tax credits or take advantage of income tax deductions. This guide offers some of the top strategies to minimize your tax burden and maximize your business income. 1. Pay yourself dividends instead of salary When you pay yourself in dividends, you get paid as a shareholder (or an owner) of the corporation. Unlike a salary, which counts as personal income, dividends are considered investment income. Dividends […]

Conferences can be great places to generate ideas, learn about trends, network with other professionals, and promote your business. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) allows you to claim travel expenses as corporate deductions, but the agency has special rules for Conferences. If you want to take advantage of the Conferences and maximize the payback potential, it’s important to understand the rules. What is the cost of the agreement? If you are an entrepreneur or self-employed, the CRA will allow you to amortize the cost of attending two conferences a year. The conference must apply to your business, and in most […]

In Ontario, new condominiums go through a so-called period of temporary employment (or simply “occupation”) before final closure. This is the time period when you have the right to occupy the unit, but technically you do not yet own it. This is unique to apartments and does not happen in owned properties that go until the final closure. You will have a job on the closing day, where you will receive the keys to the unit. Then, sometime later, you will have your last closing day when the title will actually be transferred to you. What is the occupancy fee, […]