What are Net Worth Tax Audits? A net worth audit is an indirect tax audit technique used by the Canada Revenue Agency or CRA where it has cause to believe the taxpayer’s usual records are not an accurate reflection of the taxpayer’s income. To conduct a net worth audit,...
Introduction: The Starting Point of the Taxation of Employment Income Every person resident in Canada must pay income tax on the taxable income for each taxation year. Section 3 of the Canadian Tax Act sets out five main sources of income: office, employment, business, property, and capital gains/losses. In...
Overview – Emigrating from Canada with Stock Options Most forms of remuneration for employment are taxed as income in the year they are received by that employee. For example, income from a salary is included in the year that the salary is paid. Employee stock options are an important...
Introduction: Enforcement of the Canadian Tax System As the Canadian tax system is based upon taxpayers self-assessing and self-reporting their income, to protect the integrity and fairness of the system, various enforcement mechanisms are in place to ensure compliance. For those who do not comply with the provisions of...
Introduction – What are Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)? While cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether have been intensely popular for some time, NFTs are a relatively new phenomena and have started to see roaring profits. At its most basic, an NFT is a unit of data stored on a digital ledger,...
Read more about a Canadian tax lawyer's perspective on how the John Wall case affected the application of principal residence exception to home developers.
Introduction – The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy Many Canadian businesses have been impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While many businesses are experiencing financial hardship, some of them are unable to pay their employee’s wages. In response, the Government of Canada introduced the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) in...
RRSP and TFSA Over-Contribution Tax Each year individuals have a certain amount they can contribute to their Registered Retirement Savings Plan (“RRSP”) and Tax Free Savings Plans (“TFSA”) for the year known as “contribution room”. If an individual contributes an amount to his or her RRSP or TFSA which...
Introduction: The CRA’s Voluntary Disclosures Program The Voluntary Disclosures Program (VDP), also known as tax amnesty, is a program offered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) that encourages a taxpayer to voluntarily come forward and disclose any inaccurate or unreported information concerning tax filings. A taxpayer who makes a...
Introduction: Why do private corporations receive Refundable Dividends? Canada’s Income Tax Act was originally drafted with three main principles in mind: equity, simplicity, and fairness. In essence, the overall goal of the Income Tax Act is to remove incentives or disincentives for structuring one’s affairs in a particular manner...