The dust is starting to settle after Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s flurry of announcements backtracking on the federal government’s proposed small business tax changes. Now that the news conferences are over and we’ve had a few days to analyze the changes to the changes, how will the updates affect farm businesses? First of all, we… Read More

The federal government wants to clamp down on incorporated business owners who it says are claiming capital gains when they should be reporting taxable income or dividends. A capital gain is essentially the increase in the value of a capital asset, such as farmland, above its purchase price. Under Canada’s tax system, only 50 percent… Read More

The federal government thinks too many Canadians are using private corporations as tax-advantaged personal savings accounts, and so it’s proposing having much higher tax rates apply to income that comes from investments made within a company. For an incorporated farm business, this “passive” investment income might include returns from GICs, mutual funds, stocks, bonds, or… Read More

There’s a reason most farms pay accountants to provide tax planning advice. Taxes are complicated. Add multiple pages of new information, unclear definitions, ‘tax cheat’ accusations, some emotional rhetoric, and it’s a challenge, even for accountants, to assess what Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s proposed tax changes could mean for an individual farm business. We’re going… Read More

 

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