Canadian tax news

Your source for the latest Canadian tax news and updates on changing tax laws. Working collaboratively with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) we aim to bring clarity on pressing tax questions and tax updates.

Please visit our archive page for content from 2020. There are no posts on this page older than 2020.

Filters

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has recently published some best practices for businesses and tax preparers making a Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax credit claim. To ensure an efficient process for claimants, the CRA also shares common errors seen in SR&ED claims. See the CRA’s website for further information.

While the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) announcement of an administrative extension for Underused Housing Tax (UHT) returns and payments for the 2022 calendar year was welcome, we know many members are still concerned about the impact of the UHT on Canadian owners.

Budget 2023 announced two sets of tax rules to consider when owners transfer their businesses to family members and employees. Read our latest blog to understand the implications of these measures on business succession in 2024 and later years. 

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has been reopening drop boxes across Canada after being shut down for several years due to the pandemic. The CRA indicates that the reopening will be phased in as drop boxes become ready for use. For further information, see CRA’s webpage.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has recently updated the Underused Housing Tax Notice (UHTN15) Questions and Answers About the Underused Housing Tax with more Q&As. Many of these questions are ones we have passed along to the CRA. We understand the CRA will continue to update this page as more questions arise, and/or as further guidance can be provided.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has recently created a webpage where it indicates it will provide updates on how potential labour disruptions may impact their services along with some preliminary information. We will also keep you updated as we learn of any new developments, and pass on feedback to the CRA as issues arise. 

Watch now: 2023 Federal Budget Tax Highlights webinar

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland tabled this year’s federal budget on March 28, 2023. Watch CPA Canada’s webinar in English and French to better understand the most important tax measures contained in this year’s budget. In addition, don’t forget to download the Tax Highlights document.

To provide more time for taxpayers, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has announced that penalties and interest will be waived under the Underused Housing Tax Act for the 2022 calendar year, provided the return is filed and any UHT due is paid by October 31, 2023.  For further details, please see CRA’s news release.

As the CRA continues to enhance its online processes for interacting with taxpayers and practitioners, we’ve collated some of the recent key changes introduced. Read our latest blog to know more

Sole proprietors who may want to use the same representative for both their business and personal taxes may now be eligible to do so without them having to register for the Canada Revenue Agency’s My Business Account and go through the Confirm my Representative process.

As noted in our February 8, 2023, news item, the CRA recently published additional UHT Notices (UHTN6 through UHTN11). As such, we’ve updated our UHT blog to provide further information on determining the primary place of residence, as well as continuous occupancy for UHT purposes. We’ve also added a new section that highlights some considerations for partnerships versus co-ownerships.

As noted in our October 26, 2022, news item, the CRA had provided us with their responses to questions we posed to them on the new Form T1134. The CRA has recently updated its Questions and answers about Form T1134 webpage to include these questions and responses.

As T1 season approaches, it is important to take note of new tax measures and other changes for 2022 personal income tax returns so you can better serve your clients. Read our latest blog to learn more about key considerations for this year’s filing season.

Registration for an Underused Housing Tax (UHT) program account (RU) is now open. For owners who will be required to file a UHT return for 2022 and will need to register for an RU program account, we recommend you do this soon.

As you may have read in our latest blog, the new Underused Housing Tax (UHT) is aimed primarily at non-residents of Canada, but others may also be caught. It’s important to understand the rules to ensure you, or your clients, are not subject to the tax, and/or required to file the UHT return.

The federal government’s new Underused Housing Tax (UHT) will primarily impact non-residents of Canada but may also apply to Canadian owners in some situations. For example, where a residential property is held in trust for Canadian resident beneficiaries, there may be a requirement to file a return even though no non-residents have an interest in the property and no tax is payable after applying an exemption. The penalty for not filing a return can be significant. Read our latest blog post to know more about the requirements and exemptions applicable to the UHT.

During 2022, CPAs across the country were canvassed to pose the top questions they have for the CRA. View the CRA’s responses to these questions.

As we wrap up 2022, here is a summary of some significant tax developments that took place in the second half of the year.

CPA Canada co-hosted a webinar with the CRA to review updates to the SR&ED program. In this session, the CRA provided an overview of the program and highlighted upcoming initiatives that will transform it. Watch this video to learn more about the most common trends seen on the field and hear the answers to some of the top questions from CPA Canada's SR&ED Committee.

The federal government has released new details about the Tax-Free First Home Savings Account, a new registered account to help individuals save for their first home. Read our latest blog post to find out who qualifies and other key features of these plans.

The CRA has recently updated its webpages, Gifts, awards, and long-service awards and Social events and hospitality functions, which include a number of new or revised CRA administrative policies that address the following scenarios:

  • Employer provided in-person (or hybrid) social events for employees 
  • Employer provided virtual social events for employees 
  • Gift cards provided by an employer to employees and, in particular, situations where these cards will not be considered “near cash” gifts

For further information, please see the CRA webpages.

As part of Bill C-32 (Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2022), proposed legislation to implement the new FHSA program was included and there were several revisions from the previous draft legislation released on August 9, 2022.

On November 4, 2022, Bill C-32 (Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2022) was tabled in the House of Commons. This bill implements some of the tax proposals from the 2022 Fall Economic Statement, along with several previously announced tax changes. In one major change, the coming into force date for the trust reporting rules has been postponed by one year. These rules will now apply to trust taxation years that end after December 30, 2023. Otherwise, it appears that the legislation for the trust reporting rules is unchanged. 

We are in the process of reviewing the legislation and will provide more information as it becomes available. 

On November 3, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance released the federal government’s 2022 Fall Economic Statement (FES), which contained several new tax announcements along with an update on previously announced tax measures.

As mentioned in our August 22, 2022 news item, “Update on electronic notices of assessments”, Finance Canada recently proposed legislation that would allow the Minister of National Revenue to provide a notice of assessment (NOA) electronically to an individual who filed their personal income tax return electronically, and has authorized that notices or other communications may be made available in this manner. 

From a recent discussion with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), it is our understanding that there will be no changes in the process for issuing personal NOAs until at least 2024. We will keep you posted as we get additional information.

We received a number of questions regarding the revised version of form T1134, which we passed along to the CRA. The CRA has responded to all our queries and plans to update its T1134 Q&A page as soon as the French translation has been completed. The CRA has asked us to share the English responses with our members as it recognizes the October 31 filing due date for many reporting entities is fast approaching. We will post an update when these responses are on the CRA’s website in both languages.

As a follow up to our September 12, 2022 news item, “Questions on the new Form T2054 – Election for a Capital Dividend Under Subsection 83(2)”, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has responded to our question on whether taxpayers can continue to use the previous version of the T2054 until tax software developers have incorporated the new T2054 into their products.

The CEBA website has been updated to reiterate that the December 31, 2022 forgiveness repayment deadline will be extended to December 31, 2023 for eligible CEBA loan holders in good standing. If CEBA participants are in good standing and qualify for the new extended term, they will be contacted by their financial institution with details regarding the new repayment date. The website also provides more guidance on repayment and forgiveness terms in the FAQ section.

Due to increased concerns with identify theft, Confirm my Representative was introduced by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) as a new two-factor authorization process for confirming the representative and preventing client information from being given to unauthorized representatives.

As discussed in prior news items and tax blog, the federal government has announced proposals that will require additional reporting for “reportable transactions” and “notifiable transactions.”

Trust reporting rules are changing for 2022 returns due in 2023. Under this new regime, trusts will be required to file a T3 Trust Income Tax and Information Return annually for tax years ending on or after December 31, 2022, including trusts that have never filed before. Our latest tax blog on trust reporting outlines the expanded reporting requirements for trusts set out in the August 9, 2022 draft legislation.

The Canada Revenue Agency is escalating their scrutiny of personal services businesses. In a recent stakeholder email, the CRA announced its newest educational campaign focusing on potential PSB arrangements. In response to this campaign, our newest tax blog presents an overview of the PSB rules and sets out some leading practices to consider for taxpayers that deliver services through a corporation.

As we have previously reported, the government announced in the 2021 federal budget, followed by draft legislation released on February 4, 2022, that it would be providing the CRA with the ability to send certain Notices of Assessments (“NOAs”) electronically without the taxpayer having to authorize the CRA to do so (“NOA proposal”).

On August 9, 2022, the federal Department of Finance (Finance Canada) released a large package of draft legislation covering several tax measures from the 2022 federal budget and previous announcements.

We know you’re busy and it can be hard to keep track of what’s new. We’ve put together a list of some past news items and blogs that you may have missed but are still worth a read.

Items per page  10 | 20 | 50 | All