Shaelene’s Tax Tip of the Week – September 30th

Did you know?

If you provide a per-kilometre allowance for your employees, or receive one from your employer, remember that there is a reasonable allowance rate. In 2018, the rate is 55 cents per kilometre for the first 5,000 km driven, and 49 cents thereafter. If the allowance is above those rates, it’s considered “unreasonably high,” a taxable benefit, and added to employment income. Be careful: even if the rate is below these rates, it’s considered “unreasonably low” and is still added to employment income. That said, the CRA is open to negotiation – if you can justify why a particular rate needs to be used that is too high or low, you may be able to persuade them to not include it in employment income.
 
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Shaelene’s Tax Tip of the Week – September 16th

Hopefully you haven’t, but maybe you’ve had a loss on one of your allowable business investments. An allowable business investment is any investment in a private Canadian corporation that is a small business corporation that:

a)    carries out 90% of its business on Canadian soil, and;
b)    existed 12 months before the disposition of the investment
 
While capital losses can only be used to reduce capital gains, you can use 50% of an “allowable business investment loss” to reduce all other types of income.
 
Do note that the disposition cannot be with a person you are in an arm’s length relationship with, i.e. a family member.
 
Have questions? Send us an email at [email protected]!