4 - Blog - Jones & O’Connell LLP

Changes to Registered Education Savings Plans for the upcoming school year

By Amanda CoombesAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsSeptember 28, 20230 comments

By anyone’s measure, obtaining a post-secondary education is an expensive undertaking. Tuition and other school-related costs are just the start of the bills which must be paid. Whether the student obtains a place in a university residence or finds a place to live off campus, ...

Deciding when to start receiving Old Age Security benefits

By Amanda CoombesAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsSeptember 21, 20230 comments

The Old Age Security (OAS) program is the only aspect of Canada’s retirement income system which does not require a direct contribution from recipients of program benefits. Rather, the OAS program is funded through general tax revenues, and eligibility to receive OAS is based ...

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Jones & O'Connell LLP Softball Team!

By Amanda CoombesSocial EventsSeptember 15, 20230 comments

This summer the staff from Jones & O'Connell LLP started a softball team. They had a great season, only to lose in the Championship Game in the playoffs! Looking forward to the 2024 Season.

Upcoming repayment deadline for pandemic business emergency loans

By Amanda CoombesAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsSeptember 14, 20230 comments

When the pandemic began in the spring of 2020, it wasn’t long before it became apparent that the increasing threat was to both public health and to the economy. In response to the economic threat, the federal government launched a wide range of support programs for both individuals ...

Coming clean with the tax authorities - the Voluntary Disclosure Program

By Amanda CoombesAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsSeptember 7, 20230 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 ...

Tax breaks for the upcoming post-secondary school year

By Amanda CoombesAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsAugust 24, 20230 comments

While the way in which post-secondary learning is delivered may have changed and changed again over the past three and a half years, as the pandemic waxed and waned and finally ended, the financial realities of post-secondary education have not. Regardless of how post-secondary learning ...

Making the most of the new First Home Savings Account

By Amanda CoombesAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsAugust 17, 20230 comments

The scarcity of affordable housing in just about every Canadian community can’t be news to anyone anymore. Whether it’s in relation to rental housing or the purchase of a first home, the opportunity to secure affordable, long-term housing has become more and more elusive, ...

Summer Team Building and Staff Event

By Amanda CoombesSocial EventsAugust 14, 20230 comments

Our Social Committee at Jones & O'Connell LLP created a great team building event as a Scavenger Hunt through Rennie Park, followed by an afternoon boat cruise which took us through the Niagara River.

When the taxman has a few questions about your return

By Amanda CoombesAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsAugust 10, 20230 comments

By mid to late summer, almost every Canadian has filed his or her income tax return for the previous year and has received the Notice of Assessment issued by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) with respect to that tax filing. Most taxpayers, therefore, would consider that their annual ...

Managing debt in a (continually) rising interest rate environment

By Amanda CoombesAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsAugust 3, 20230 comments

Between 2009 and early 2022, Canadians lived (and borrowed) in an ultra-low interest rate environment. Between January 2009 and March 2022, the bank rate (from which commercial interest rates are determined) was (except, briefly, in the fall of 2018) never higher than 1.50% – ...

Making the RRSP decision when you turn 71

By Amanda CoombesAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsJuly 27, 20230 comments

The age at which Canadians retire and begin deriving income from government and private pensions and private retirement savings has become something of a moving target. At one time, reaching one’s 65th birthday marked the transition from working life to full retirement, ...

How to respond to a first Instalment Reminder from the Canada Revenue Agency

By Amanda CoombesAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsJuly 20, 20230 comments

By the time summer arrives, nearly all Canadians have filed their income tax returns for the previous year, have received a Notice of Assessment from the tax authorities with respect to that return and have either spent their tax refund or, more grudgingly, paid any balance of tax ...

The start of a new benefit year - what can you receive in 2023-24?

By Amanda CoombesAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsJuly 13, 20230 comments

At a time when Canadian households are coping simultaneously with ongoing inflation, especially food inflation, as well as interest rates which are at their highest point in decades, every dollar of income counts. And where that income can be obtained with minimal effort, and received ...

Claiming a deduction for summer child care costs

By Amanda CoombesAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsJuly 6, 20230 comments

With the worst days of the pandemic behind us, more and more Canadian families have returned to their usual schedule, with kids back in attendance at school and parents back at work at the office, on either a full-time or a part-time basis. While a return to the normal routine is ...

Claiming the principal residence exemption in 2023 – some new rules

By Amanda CoombesAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsJune 29, 20230 comments

The purchase of a first home is a milestone in anyone’s life, for many reasons. A home purchase is likely the largest single financial transaction most Canadians will enter into in their lives, and having the ability to buy one’s own home has traditionally been perceived ...

Making sure your taxes for 2023 are on track

By Amanda CoombesAccounting, Auditing, Tax & Consulting NewsJune 22, 20230 comments

Many, if not most, taxpayers think of tax planning as a year-end exercise to be carried out in the last few weeks of the year, with a view to taking the steps needed to minimize the tax bill for the current year. And it’s true that almost all strategies needed to both minimize ...