Entries by Armando Iannuzzi

Canada Revenue Agency prescribed rate drops to 4 per cent for Q1 2025

The Canada Revenue Agency prescribed rate will decrease to 4 per cent for the first quarter of 2025—the period from January 1st to March 31st , 2025—down from 5 per cent in Q4 2024. The rate held steady for two straight quarters this year after climbing steadily in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as […]

Federal GST/HST relief legislation passes in House without planned tax rebate

The federal legislation implementing the GST/HST holiday on select items, which will be in place between December 14th 2024 to February 15th, 2025, has passed in the House of Commons and—barring any surprises in the Senate—will soon become law. The legislation does not include the proposed Working Canadians Rebate for qualifying taxpayers, which (as outlined […]

Ottawa proposes holiday season HST relief, along with tax rebate for early 2025

In the wake of the Ford government’s decision to issue $200 tax rebates to most Ontarians in early 2025, Ottawa has decided to take a similar policy approach to assuage Canadians’ cost-of-living anxieties. The Trudeau government yesterday announced plans for a two-month GST/HST holiday on a wide range of consumer goods, along with a new […]

Update: CRA offers relief as capital gains rule changes have yet to receive royal assent

As the Notice of Ways and Means Motion that will implement the federal government’s increase to the capital gains inclusion rate lingers in a House of Commons brought to a virtual standstill by recent privilege debates, the Canada Revenue Agency has officially announced that it is administering the tax change, which was first tabled in […]

What Ontario SMEs can expect from upcoming federal carbon tax payments

Ottawa has upheld its long-delayed carbon tax commitment to refund a portion of federal fuel charge proceeds to small to medium-sized businesses in provinces where the charge applies. The recently announced Canada Carbon Rebate for Small Businesses promises to return fuel charge proceeds from 2019-20 through 2023-24 to approximately 600,000 Canadian-controlled private corporations with between […]

Bare trust filing exemption announced for 2024

  The rules around bare trust reporting are shifting again. The Canada Revenue Agency yesterday announced that bare trusts will be exempted from filing a T3 Income Tax and Information Return, including Schedule 15 (Beneficial Ownership Information of a Trust) for the 2024 tax year. The exception will be in cases where the CRA directly […]

Implementation of new capital gains rules remains uncertain

The federal government’s decision earlier this year to increase the capital gains inclusion rate caused considerable consternation among entrepreneurs, professionals and other affected taxpayers. Many stakeholders—including business and industry advocacy groups—called for a rethink, reversal or at the very least a delay of the policy change to allow individuals and business owners to plan. But as […]

Canada Revenue Agency prescribed rate holds steady for Q4 2024

  The Canada Revenue Agency prescribed rate will remain at 5 per cent for the fourth quarter of 2024—the period from October 1st to December 31st. It is the second straight quarter the rate has remind unchanged. The prescribed rate reached record highs following the peak of the pandemic in 2022, surging to 6 per […]

Capital gains inclusion rate changes align with those proposed in Budget 2024

When the federal government this week tabled a notice of ways and means motion providing technical details of planned changes to the capital gains inclusion rate, the news was more about what wouldn’t be included in future legislation than what would. Despite feedback from a diverse group ranging from economists to organizations representing Canada’s physicians—that […]