Blog - Jones & O’Connell LLP

Business pandemic support programs extended and expanded

By Jones & O'Connell LLPAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsNovember 9, 20210 comments

Throughout the pandemic, the federal government has provided businesses with a number of support programs, some of which operated to subsidize the wage and rental costs of those businesses. Some of those programs were scheduled to expire on November 20, 2021; however, in its most ...

Employer-provided cell phone and internet services - who benefits?

By Jones & O'Connell LLPAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsNovember 4, 20210 comments

Working from home — and certainly work from home arrangements on the scale experienced over the past 19 months — would not be practically possible without the use of technology. And of all the available technology, cell phones and internet service are the two essentials ...

Claiming a tax credit for renovation costs

By Jones & O'Connell LLPAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsOctober 27, 20210 comments

The ongoing pandemic has, as one of its many effects, created a boom in the home renovation industry, as Canadians find themselves needing to adapt their homes to more and more varied uses. One of those uses is multi-generational living, as older Canadians seeks to “age in place” ...

Year-end planning for your RRSP, RRIF, and TFSA

By Jones & O'Connell LLPAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsOctober 18, 20210 comments

Most Canadians know that the deadline for making contributions to one’s registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) comes 60 days after the end of the calendar year, around the end of February. There are, however, some circumstances in which an RRSP contribution must be (or should ...

Managing a Canada Student Loan after graduation

By Jones & O'Connell LLPAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsSeptember 29, 20210 comments

Getting a post-secondary education, especially where that education includes graduate school or professional training, is an expensive undertaking. According to Statistics Canada, the average undergraduate tuition cost for the 2020-21 academic year was $6,580. Costs for graduate programs, ...

Getting your tax affairs in order: the Voluntary Disclosure Program

By Jones & O'Connell LLPAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsAugust 18, 20210 comments

Although it’s doubtful that anyone does so with any great degree of enthusiasm, each spring millions of Canadians sit down to complete their annual tax return for the previous calendar year (or, more often, they pay someone else to do it for them).The Canadian tax system is a “self-assessing ...

The CPP post-retirement benefit – deciding whether to continue contributions

By Jones & O'Connell LLPAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsAugust 12, 20210 comments

One or two generations ago, retirement was an event. Typically, an individual would leave the work force completely at age 65, and begin collecting Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security benefits along with, in many cases, a pension from an employer-sponsored registered pension ...

A mid-year tax check-up on your taxes

By Jones & O'Connell LLPAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsJuly 7, 20210 comments

By the beginning of June, most Canadians have filed their individual income tax return for the 2020 tax year and received a Notice of Assessment (NOA) outlining their tax position for that year. Those who receive a refund will celebrate that fact or, less happily, those who receive ...

Moving expenses — what’s deductible and when

By Jones & O'Connell LLPAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsJune 28, 20210 comments

Pandemic notwithstanding, the Canadian real estate market is booming, in terms of both house prices and sales activity. According to Canadian Real Estate Association statistics, the number of sales in March 2021 were at the highest level ever recorded — and the MLS Home Price ...

What to do when you can’t pay your tax bill

By Jones & O'Connell LLPAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsMay 12, 20210 comments

Most taxpayers sit down to do their annual tax return, or wait to hear from their tax return preparer, with some degree of trepidation. In most cases taxpayers don’t know until their return is completed what the “bottom line” will be, and it’s usually a case of hoping for the best ...

When CERB benefits don’t have to be repaid

By Jones & O'Connell LLPAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsMay 12, 20210 comments

When the pandemic was declared just over a year ago, the federal government announced a wide range of benefits to help mitigate the financial stress experienced by those who lost jobs or saw their hours (and income) reduced.The most broad-based of those programs was the Canada Emergency ...

Taking advantage of pension income splitting

By Jones & O'Connell LLPAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsMarch 12, 20210 comments

Income tax is a big-ticket item for most retired Canadians. Especially for those who are happily free of the requirement to make mortgage payments, the annual tax bill may be the single biggest annual expenditure they are required to make. Fortunately, the Canadian tax system provides ...

Ontario Small Business Funding for COVID-19 Restrictions

By Jones & O'Connell LLPAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsJanuary 16, 20210 comments

Ontario is helping businesses recover costs for personal protective equipment and providing extra support for businesses required to close or significantly restrict services as a result of provincial public health measures. There are several different types of funding available which ...

CRA announces new flat rate method for home office expense claims

By Jones & O'Connell LLPAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsJanuary 13, 20210 comments

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has announced that a new temporary home office tax credit may be claimable by qualifying individuals who worked from home during 2020. Taxpayers are eligible to use this new method if they worked more than 50% of the time from home for a period ...

Tax planning for year-end charitable donations

By Jones & O'Connell LLPAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsDecember 22, 20200 comments

Canadians have a well-deserved reputation for supporting charitable causes, through donations of both money and goods. Our tax system supports that generosity by providing a tax credit for qualifying donations made. Federally, taxpayers can claim a credit of 15% of the first ...

Coming clean with the tax authorities – the Voluntary Disclosure Program

By Jones & O'Connell LLPAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsDecember 10, 20200 comments

The Canadian tax system is a “self-assessing system” which relies heavily on the voluntary co-operation of taxpayers. Canadians are expected (in fact, in most cases, required), to complete and file a tax return each spring, reporting income from all sources, calculating ...