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2023 Budget Tightens Tax rules while Investing in Clean Tech

The 2023 Federal Budget, presented by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on March 28, forecasts a $43 billion dollar deficit, with both spending cuts and tax increases. High income individuals may be impacted by changes to the Alternative Minimum Tax rules while small business owners may be interested in changes to rules allowing for intergenerational ...

The Supreme Court Rules in Favour of the Taxpayer in an FBAR Penalty Case

On February 28, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court released a 5-4 decision against the IRS’s position on the imposition of nonwillful violations of timely Foreign Bank Account Reporting (“FBAR”) reporting for U.S. citizens.  Interestingly, the decision crossed the perceived Right Wing/Left Wing split of the Court as Justice Barret authored the dissenting opinion which ...

How the CRA’s GST/HST tax rules affect new residential properties

The GST/HST ramifications and potential self-assessment for builders of new residential properties is often a complicated endeavor, especially for those planning on renting once construction is completed. If GST/HST rules aren’t properly followed, the financial implications can be severe. When it comes to GST/HST rebates, it’s also important to understand who is eligible and ...

Tax Insights: A summary of The Underused Housing Tax (UHT) for Canadians

Canada’s newest Underused Housing Tax (UHT) was enacted last summer, meaning some residential property owners (i.e., those not considered “excluded owners”) are expected to file a UHT return and pay the UHT starting this year. Since 2023 will be the first year the CRA will collect the tax, there are still many uncertainties when ...

TFSAs for U.S. citizens: might be worthwhile with some caveats

Since the Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) was introduced in 2009, it has been used by Canadians to earn investment income on a tax-free basis. Many U.S. citizens, however, have shied away from this account for several reasons. But should TFSAs really be avoided by all U.S. citizens? While there are some roadblocks to owning ...

Exploring Section 1031 Rollover in US Real Estate for Canadians

With current low capitalization rates in the Canadian real estate market, many Canadians are looking south of the border to the United States for higher returns on their real estate investment. While the US real estate market potentially offers opportunities for growth, there are numerous tax traps for the unwary Canadian investor. Today, we ...

2022 federal budget focuses on housing market; spending lower than expected

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland presented the 2022 Federal Budget to a divided House of Commons on April 7, 2022. The Liberal and NDP parties have recently agreed to a confidence deal, while the remaining parties sit on the sidelines.  Lower than anticipated spending and deficits This is the Liberal’s first budget since being elected ...

Preparing for the 2022 tax season

The Canadian government has moved quickly to offer economic relief and adjust tax regulations to benefit businesses and workers hit by economic challenges. To help you get up to speed, here is a quick summary of the most important tax changes affecting mid-sized Canadian companies in 2022, complete with links for further details. Updated ...

Proposed legislation introduced to reform cannabis taxation in the US

On July 14, 2021, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer released a discussion draft of a detailed cannabis reform bill which, if enacted, would restore the deductibility of all expenses related to cannabis businesses and institute excise taxes on such businesses, resulting in big changes to cannabis taxation. Now backed by Democratic senators Cory Broker ...