Watts Advisors Accounting & Tax Blog
What is a RRIF and How Does it Work? 0
July 17, 2014A Registered Retirement income fund (commonly referred to as a RRIF) is an income fund created upon a transfer funds from an individual’s Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP), this fund has required annual withdrawals that are designed to use the equity built up in an individual’s RRSP’s to provide a ...
Read MoreIncrease in Effective Tax Rate for Non-Eligible Dividends 0
December 4, 2013Starting in 2014 the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has changed the way that non-eligible dividends are taxed. This change will effectively increase the tax rate for non-eligible dividends. This will cause business owners to re-evaluate the way in which they draw income from their business (dividends vs. Salary). Let’s look ...
Read MoreRepeated Failure to Report Income Penalty 0
August 17, 2012Far too often I have had new clients come to me after having done their own taxes, making a mistake, and getting penalized by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). The CRA have the ability levy significant penalties if tax returns are not done correctly, usually when income is under reported. If ...
Read MoreIncorporation vs. Proprietorship 0
July 4, 2012One of the biggest considerations for small businesses is whether to incorporate or to operate as a proprietorship. What’s the difference? The main difference between corporations and proprietorships is that corporations become their own legal entity while proprietorships are operated under the name of the proprietor. From a tax perspective a corporation ...
Read MoreFirst-time home buyers’ tax credit 0
June 15, 2012Starting in 2009 first-time home buyers’ are eligible to claim a $5,000 tax credit in the year that their home is purchased. Many people are not aware of this, and I have even encountered people who do their own taxes and have missed out on the credit because they were not ...
Read MoreStarting a New Business 0
June 14, 2012Starting a new business can be an overwhelming process; there are so many considerations which makes it easy to overlook something. Not only is it important to not overlook anything, it is important to do things in the correct order. In my time assisting clients go through this process I ...
Read MoreInterest and Penalties 0
May 30, 2012For those of you who did not manage to file your personal tax return on time, you may be wondering what the consequences are for failing to file the return as well as failing to pay the balance owing on the return. The consequences come in the form of Interest ...
Read MorePrincipal Residence Exemption 0
April 13, 2012Recently I have received a few questions about the tax rules surrounding your principal residence. The general idea behind the Principal Residence Exemption is that you are not taxed on gains you realize when you sell your residence. But like many tax guidelines in Canada the rules are more complicated than that to ...
Read MoreDeductible Employment Expenses 0
March 27, 2012There are a few instances where you are able to deduct expenses against employment income. The content of this blog will just cover the most common expenses of standard employment arrangements. There are specialized rules for commission employees and other unique circumstances as well as more specialized expenses that will ...
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