Accounting, Bookkeeping, Income Tax Preparation, And Consulting Forum

For businesses in Manitoba collecting Provincial Sales Tax (PST) .. Effective February 1, 2008: ..When the return due date falles on a weekend or a public holiday, the due date is the next business day. This relates to PST collections starting January 2008, which is due by the 20th of the following month – which is Wednesday February 20, 2008. The December 2007 PST collections, however .. due on January 20, 2008 – which falls on a Sunday – is still due this Friday January 18, 2008.

From the GST Menu from Business Topics over at Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Ignoring Blockquotes On This Post….. Legislative changes were introduced in 2006 and will be effective on April 1, 2007. The objective of these changes is to simplify tax compliance for businesses by harmonizing various accounting, penalty and interest provisions of the federal acts administered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), such as the Excise Tax Act (ETA), the Income Tax Act (ITA), the Excise Act, 2001, and the Air Travellers Security Charge Act (ATSCA). Key changes for businesses include: New failure to file penalty: A penalty will [More]

I have received this email through my Efile Newsletter correspondence, of all places … A new GST/HST processing system and legislative changes The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is replacing its current GST/HST processing system on April 10, 2007. We are also implementing changes to legislation relating to interest and penalties, which come into effect on April 1, 2007. A new GST/HST processing system We are replacing our current system to make it more efficient, strengthen our processes, and improve our service to GST/HST registrants. The new processing system will result in new services and more account information. These changes should [More]

Just a reminder .. that if you are a monthly Goods and Services Tax (GST) filer .. your GST return for the month of December 2006 is due today. If you file quarterly .. and have a year end of either December, March, June, or September .. your Q4 GST return for the period October 1, 2006 to December 31, 2006 is due today. If you are like me, self-employed proprietor and an annual filer .. you won’t have to file your 2006 GST return until June 15, 2007. Although, FILING YOUR RETURN and PAYMENT OF YOUR RETURN are two [More]

Businesses with sales over $30,000 CDN must register for a business number and charge 7% GST on their services or products, (6% beginning July 1, 2006). Just like the provincial retail sales tax (PST), to be compliant with the government, you must report and remit these collections over to the goverment. About this extra 7% money – it is “trust funds” – this money is not your extra profit. It’s money you collected as an agent or on behalf of the government and believe me .. they want it. The good news, is that everybody else is also charging you [More]

Listen .. trust your HART … If you don’t have the money to pay your income taxes, you should still make an effort to file your income tax return ON TIME. This way, it’s only a “collection issue” and you will only be subject to interest on the arrears balances owing. If you file late or after the due date (April 30th for most individuals and June 15th for self-employed individuals), you will have to pay a flat percentage penalty of the balance you owe plus a flat percentage penalty of the balance owing is added for every month you [More]

I have many clients who have automated payroll services. By using the word “automated”, I mean specifically: * Companies who use payroll services like Ceridian Canada etc. * Companies who have accounting software with a Payroll Module and pay for periodic and/or annual updates But, I also have many clients that are just single owner/shareholders or small businesses that only have 2-5 employees and find that that it is too costly to keep paying for an updated payroll service or hire a company like Ceridian. Here is what I suggest that my clients do Let’s face it .. I would [More]

Just a reminder … GST/HST Info Sheet about the Reduction of GST/HST .. For those of you who will not be hiring technical support to change the rates in your Cash Registers .. you only have 35 days left to learn how to do it! So, you may as well start looking for those manuals soon! The General Transition Rule states on Page 1: Generally, the new rates of tax apply to the supply of taxable (other than zero rated) goods and services in the following circumstances: * If the GST/HST becomes payable on or after July 1, 2006, without [More]

From personal experience, I’m sure Tara Birtwhistle and Johnny Wright are quite relieved to here about this! My own 2000, 2001 and 2002 income tax returns were amended from an initial audit where I, as an independent contractor, was deemed to be an employee of a company. What this meant to the company was a whole bunch of “employer share” of payroll deductions were being requested. What this meant to ME .. was that being deemed as an employee, all of a sudden my operating business that I had operating since 1991 became non-existent – all my deductions were ignored. [More]

I received this in my In-Box October 26, 2005 … it’s that time of year again, for us preparers to register with Canada Revenue Agency to renew our participation online. Thank you for using our electronic services to file your client’s individual and corporation income tax returns. To maintain your access to our electronic services for the coming year, you have to renew your participation online. This will allow you to use the following electronic services: * EFILE On-Line * EFILE On-Line Plus * System for Electronic Notification of Debt (SEND) * Corporation Internet Filing * To renew your participation, [More]

Employment Insurance (EI) Employment Insurance (EI) provides temporary financial assistance for unemployed Canadians while they look for work or upgrade their skills. Canadians who are sick, pregnant or caring for a newborn or adopted child, as well as those who must care for a family member who is seriously ill with a significant risk of death, may also be assisted by Employment Insurance. Being an accountant and working in public practice since 1985 and on my own since 2003, I have had the opportunity to prepare many “Record of Employment” (R.O.E.) forms for my clients over the years. Not every [More]

I would describe “COMPLIANCE AND REPORTING” as the preparation and filing of necessary forms for the government, either Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) or the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or any provincial or state government agency .. on time. When forms are filed on time, there are no penalties and government officials will not bother you. I can help you with: Canadian Payroll – Employer Remittances Provincial Sales Tax (PST) Reports Goods and Services Tax (GST) Reports T4/T4A, T5, Workers Compensation Board (WCB) Reports Training and Assistance Take care. HART 1-800-HART