Tag Archives: Accountant

Tax Tip #5 – Claim those investment expenses

If you have investments, you may be able to claim related carrying costs and investment expenses. Carrying costs include fees such as a safety deposit box rental or fees paid to an investment advisor.  You can also claim interest expenses on the money that you borrow to for certain investments.

You can deduct interest and carrying charges incurred to earn income from securities, bonds and other investments, if they are earning investment income. The requirement of earning income generally means that the investments should be paying interest or dividends.

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Tax Tip #4 – What’s new?

The following are some new changes affecting your 2011 Personal Income Tax Return:

  • Children’s arts amount
  • Volunteer firefighters’ amount
  • Allowable amount of medical expenses for other dependants
  • Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB)
  • Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions
  • Students tuition credit
  • Investment tax credit
  • Exploration and development expenses
  • Split income of a child under 18

Please refer to the attached press release from the Canada Revenue Agency. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/ncm-tx/rtrn/cmpltng/whtsnw-eng.html

Please contact us to discuss how these changes will benefit you.

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Tax Tip #2 – RRSP Contributions

A Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) can help you save for retirement, an education or even buy your first home.  You have until February 29, 2012 to contribute to your RRSP so that you can reap the benefit of a tax deduction on your 2011 tax year.  To retrieve your RRSP deduction limit for 2011, please refer to your 2010 Notice of Assessment.  You can also use the new online service offered to you by the CRA named “My Account”.

My Account lets you obtain the information on your RRSP contribution limits, contribution requirements for the Home Buyers Plan and contribution requirements for the Lifelong Learning Plan.  You can also receive information on your Child Tax Benefits and your GST/HST payment information.

For more information on RRSP, visit http://www.cra.gc.ca/rrsp or log on to My Account at http://www.cra.gc.ca/myaccount.

Source: Canada Revenue Agency  http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/menu-eng.html

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Tax Tip #1 – File For Your Children

The income tax filing for your children can be very beneficial to them in the future. For the 2011 tax year, if your child has income of less than $10,527 there is no tax to pay.  However, by producing an income tax return for your child, he/she will reap the benefit of creating RRSP contribution room which can be used in the future.

Also if your child is above the age of 18, they can be entitled to the GST/HST credit.  The only way your child can profit from this is to produce an income tax return.

For more information on payment dates and how the GST/HST credit is calculated, visit http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/bnfts/gsthst/fq_pymnts-eng.html

Source: Canada Revenue Agency  http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/menu-e.html

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Is Hiring a Tax Professional Right for You?

It’s about that time of year again… Tax Season! For some, it’s just another time of the year in which we fill out some forms and it’s over with.  For the majority, however, it’s a time of stress and procrastination.  

When I first filed my tax return, I hired a professional to do it for me, which was incredibly convenient. On the other hand, I was the butt of jokes from many of my friends, who all do it online for minimal cost. Still, there’s much to be said for hiring a professional to complete your tax forms, especially if you have a family, own investments or run a business. Here are a few reasons you may want to hire a professional instead of going the DIY route. 

You’ll skip the hassle. 

I was raised in a family in which, if the possibility of having someone else complete a task was presented, we’d take it.  If you are a notorious procrastinator or if you’re already very busy with a job and kids, just suck it up and hire a tax professional. It’s almost completely painless and well worth the expense (which normally pays for itself!).

 You’ll make no mistakes.

There are two obvious goals of filing your taxes—to avoid trouble with the government and to maximize your return. Making mistakes when filing your taxes alone could get you in trouble, and could as well make you lose out on some money. Certified Professional Accountants know exactly what sort of deductions and claims you can make to get the full tax return that you deserve.

You have a complicated tax situation that necessitates professional help.

For some, their taxes may be so simple that filing it online is perhaps the best choice. At the same time, however, everyone’s situation is different, and yours may be so complicated that you’ll absolutely need a professional’s help. Hiring a tax professional is ideal if you are in business, if you are experiencing changes in your family situation (divorce, marriage, kids going to college, etc.) or if you wish to diversify your financial portfolio. All of these scenarios would make filing your taxes on your own particularly tricky.

You’re more likely to meet the deadline and avoid late fees.

When you hire a tax professional, he/she will keep you on task so that you turn everything in on time. If you want to avoid these horrendous fees as noted by the Canada Revenue Agency, then hire someone to avoid being late.

Alvina Lopez is a freelance writer and blog junkie, who blogs about accredited online colleges. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: alvina.lopez@gmail.com

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Tax Hikes Everywhere!

Happy New Year! The Government is imposing various tax increases for all Quebecers in 2012. An increase in the QST, increase in the QPP contribution rate, increase in the health contribution fund, increase in gas tax, etc…

Now, more than ever it’s extremely important to seek professional advice and take advantage of all possible tax deductions available to you.

For more information on the various tax increases, please watch this short video.

 

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When I Grow Up, I want to be a Tax Accountant!

It’s Friday so we decided to post something funny to lighten up the mood heading into the weekend. YES, all this is true and YES we love dealing with this stuff on a regular basis! Enjoy!!

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Get a Jump-Start! Popular Small Business Owners Tax Deductions

While filing for taxes may be the last thing on your mind—after all, didn’t it just feel like you did that just yesterday?—the truth is that you need to start preparing as early as possible (like right now) so that you qualify for a variety of tax deductions. There are tons of tax deductions you are entitled to a small business owner but since agents need solid documentation, receipts, and ledgers in order to approve your deductions, it’s important that you start collecting all the proper paperwork as early as today. That said, to learn some of the most common tax deductions you qualify for as small business owner and to know all of the materials you need to claim the deduction, continue reading below.

Home-Business Tax Deductions - If you conduct your business from the comfort of your own home then yes you can qualify to receive a deduction. For example if you run an online business from your bedroom, design and make clothes in the common area of your home, or provide legal services in the den, you can qualify for this deduction. Note that auditors are really strict when it comes to this deduction—your home must be your principle place of business. This means that it is your main source to earn business income and that you meet with clients and customers in your home regularly. Do not confuse this with having just a “home-office” (a space with a desk where you catch up on work over the occasional weekend or so). This deduction can be hard to claim. That’s why to earn this deduction it’s typically best to keep records of all business-related activities that occur within your home, including appointment ledgers and supply order forms with your home address on them. To claim this deduction you must also actually live there. Some small business owners like to dupe the system by purchasing cheap homes for office space and then “pretend “that they live there. If you are investigated and get caught in your lies be prepared to suffer the consequences. That said, the amount of deduction you qualify for will be based on the percentage of your home that you can allocate to your home business. So for example, if you run an online business through your bedroom which is 10 by 10 feet in size and your home is 1800 square feet then your business-related home expenses would equal to 5% —it’s the work space divided by the total area. You would then take this percentage and apply it to your allowable household expenses that pertain to your business such as utilities.

Wine and Dine Tax Deductions - If your line of business requires you to take out clients, customers or investors to dinner in order to earn or negotiate business then you can claim a deduction on all meals. You can’t write if off completely, the CRA allows up to 50% in deductions of each meal since it is assumed that you are eating as well. But you can essentially write off half of whatever the meal (or event) costs with tip included if it is just you and a business associate. Note that business matters must be discussed in order to claim this deduction either during or after the meal/event. In either case the CRA is really strict with this deduction and you must have receipts in order to claim this, no exceptions. One of the easiest ways to avoid an investigation (which is common with this deduction) is to not only save every receipt and make photocopies, but to include the following information on the back of the receipts: date, names of people present for the dinner meeting for example, what business-related matters where addressed/discussed, and why this type of meeting was found most appropriate.

Travel Deductions - Lastly, small business owners can also receive tax deductions for a good chunk of their traveling expenses that they spend going on business trips, conferences and meeting up with clients or customers. This includes receiving a deduction on public transportation passes, taxi fares, flights, vehicle rentals and gas and repairs if you choose to use your own vehicle for business travels. Similar to the wine and dine deduction you must have impeccable records. This includes organizing all of your receipts and documenting the date, mileage, and the client you went to visit. Note that there is a limit of how much you can deduct in this category however.

This guest post is contributed by Carol Wilson who writes for business insurance reviews. She contributes articles about a variety of marketing, business, stock market, small business topics. She can be contacted at: wilson.carol24@gmail.com.

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Xero Certified Advisor

Better Tax Services is delighted to be a certified advisor for Xero – a new web-based accounting system that enables small to medium sized businesses to work in partnership with their accountants and business advisors.

We will still continue to support our clients who use a wide range of both online and desktop based accounting software we see this partnership with Xero as a great opportunity to attract new clients but also a great way of getting more involved and more collaborative with our existing clients.

Have a look at the video below which is a great introduction to Xero.

If you do have any questions regarding Xero and are considering using it as your accounting system then please get in touch. We’re more than happy to offer any advice and support that get’s you up an running with Xero in no time.

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Taxpayer Bill of Rights

In an effort to increase accountability and transparency, the Canada Revenue Agency, or CRA, released the Taxpayer Bill of Rights in 2007. The underlying assumption of this document is that if citizens are treated fairly and get the information they need, they will be more likely to comply with the law. Fifteen rights for taxpayers are outlined. They include general rights including the right to privacy, access to accurate and timely information, professional and courteous treatment and the fair application of laws.

In the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, more specific rights are outlined as well. These include the right to a review and possible appeal, the right to lodge a complaint and be provided with an explanation of the findings and the right to service in both English and French. Also listed is the right to representation, which may come in the form of an accountant or any person of the taxpayer’s choosing. The Taxpayer Bill of Rights also provides relief from penalties and interest in extraordinary circumstances.

Additional provisions are the specific requirements of the CRA, in particular, the annual publishing of their service standards and report as well as timely warnings by the CRA of shady tax schemes to citizens.

The rights outlined fall into either the legislative or service category. Issues in the legislative area can be addressed through the redress rights in the legislation and court appeals where appropriate. Taxpayers with service issues may file a complaint or contact the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman.

In addition, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights seeks to address small business concerns with five commitments. These five promises are aimed at reducing the compliance burden on small businesses by reducing costs and offering resources to assist small businesses with compliance.

Here is the link for complete Taxpayer Bill of Rights offered through the Canada Revenue Agency.

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