Tax Tip Thursday

Today we have a few odds and ends to share. A little bit of something for everyone, perhaps.

Ontario Relief Grant

For small businesses that had to close in December due to health mandated restrictions, there is a $10k grant available and it is open now.

Tax Filing and T-slips

Just a reminder that employers are required to have distributed their T4’s and other T-slips by the end of the month. You should wait until the 1^st week of March before you complete your taxes. We have a lot of clients that have already come in to get their taxes done. We will do some of the work, but we won’t download the slips from the CRA until March 1 so that there is a better chance we will have all the slips.

CAI – Climate Action Incentive

This is one most people are not going to like.

The 2021 Federal Budget announced that starting in 2022, the CAI will be paid to taxpayers at the beginning of each quarter, instead of being included on the tax return.

The 2022 CAI will not be claimed on the 2021 tax return, but the 2021 tax return must be filed in order to receive the quarterly payments, the same way that other quarterly payments and refundable tax credits depend on the tax return being filed.

The quarterly payments will start in July 2022 with a double payment for the first two quarters of the 2022-2023 fuel charge year (April 2022 to March 2023).

Teachers

Childhood educators can claim a 25-per-cent refundable “Eligible educator school supply tax credit” on up to $1,000 of expenses incurred for “eligible supplies”.

Eligible supplies must be purchased for use in a school or in a regulated child-care facility for the purpose of teaching or facilitating students’ learning.

There are a number of conditions that have to be met in order to be eligible. Be sure to look them up or let your tax-preparer know of any of the expenses.

The eligible supplies expense is the amount that you paid in 2021 for teaching supplies that meet all of the following conditions:

• You bought the teaching supplies for teaching or facilitating students’ learning
• The teaching supplies were directly consumed or used in the performance of the duties of the eligible educator’s employment
• You were not entitled to a reimbursement, allowance, or any other form of assistance for the expense (unless the amount is included in the calculation of your income from any tax year and is not deductible in the calculation of your taxable income)
• The eligible teaching supplies expense was not deducted from any person’s income for any year or included in calculating a deduction from any person’s tax payable for any year

Teaching supplies are consumable supplies and prescribed durable goods. Durable goods are:

• books, games, and puzzles
• containers (such as plastic boxes or banker boxes)
• educational support software
• calculators (including graphing calculators)
• external data storage devices
• web cams, microphones and headphones
• wireless pointer devices
• electronic educational toys
• digital timers
• speakers
• video streaming devices
• multimedia projectors
• printers
• laptop, desktop and tablet computers, provided that none of these items are made available to the eligible educator by their employer for use outside of the classroom

We Are Here To Help With All This And More!

We know that you can have lots of questions about filing and need help understanding what deductions and benefits for which you are personally and professionally eligible. We are in the office and ready for when you book an appointment!

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.