Tax Tip Thursday

Happy new year!

Alphabet soup is back this year, now with some new programs and some extensions.

Before we get to that, I am going to quickly cover holiday pay requirements so that employers and employees alike are aware.

Holiday Pay

All employees are entitled to receive Holiday Pay for Christmas day, Boxing day, and New Years day, as long as you worked the scheduled shift/day before and after the holiday. This might be tough on employers this year, but it is the law as set out in the Ontario Employment Standards Act. If you are an employee and have not received it, be sure to work it out with your employer.

This includes any student employees as well.

CWLB – Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit

As an employee, if your hours/pay has been cut by 50% or more and there has been a designated lockdown in your region, you are likely entitled to the Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit. This also applies to self employed workers as well.

The Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit (CWLB) gives temporary income support to employed and self-employed people who cannot work due to a COVID-19 lockdown.

The CWLB is only available when a COVID-19 lockdown order is designated for your region, however effective Dec 19, all of Canada is a designated lockdown region.

The other eligibility requirements must include one of the following:

• you lost your job and were unemployed
• you were self-employed but unable to continue your work
• you were employed or self-employed, but had a 50% reduction in your average weekly income as compared to the previous year

If you are eligible for the CWLB, you can receive $300 ($270 after taxes withheld) per week. The eligible period is between October 24, 2021 and May 7, 2022.

CRHP – Canada Recovery Hiring Program

The Canada Recovery Hiring Program (CRHP) is a hiring subsidy which will support employers with a subsidy of up to 50% on incremental remuneration paid to eligible working employees.

It overlapped with and then replaced CEWS, which everyone was familiar with. This started in June 2021 and was set to expire in November 2021, however it has been extended until May 2022.

THRP – Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program

As a business, charity, or non-profit in Canada who has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, you may be eligible for a wage subsidy, rent subsidy, or both through the THRP.

You may qualify if you are either:

• part of the tourism, hospitality, arts, entertainment, or recreation sectors, or
• are affected by a qualifying public health restriction..

The first way to qualify for the THRP is by meeting the following three conditions:

1. More than 50% of your eligible revenue comes from one or more of the tourism, hospitality, arts, entertainment, or recreation activities this program supports
2. You have a 12-month average revenue drop from March 2020 to February 2021 of at least 40%
3. You have a claim period revenue drop of at least 40%

HHBRP – Hardest-Hit Business Recovery Program

The HHBRP  provides wage and rent subsidies, but only for businesses that can demonstrate severe revenue decline since the beginning of the pandemic.

Hard-hit organizations that do not qualify for the Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program and that have been deeply affected since the outset of the pandemic would qualify for rent and wage support under the Hardest-hit Business Recovery Program, provided they meet the following two eligibility requirements:

1. An average monthly revenue reduction of at least 50% over the first 13 qualifying period for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (12-month revenue decline); and
2. A current-month revenue loss of at least 50%.

More Alphabet Soup Next Week

All of these recovery benefits required a shutdown or partial shutdown in your geographic region. The good news (or bad news depending on your perspective) is that all of Canada qualified as of December 19, 2021. If you are looking for some help figuring out whether you’re entitled to any of these, and, if you are, applying for them, please book an appointment! We will be happy to help you.

Next week, I will talk about some other CRA initiatives! If you are a small business owner, you definitely want to keep an eye out for that! We will talk about mileage, CCA (depreciation), and CPP.

Disclaimer:

This article provides information of a general nature only. It is only current at the posting date. It is not updated and it may no longer be current. It does not provide legal or tax advice nor can it or should it be relied upon. All tax situations are specific to each individual. If you have specific tax questions you should book an appointment for a 1 on 1 consultation.