In its regularly scheduled January 18th announcement, the Bank of Canada chose to leave the current bank rate of 1.25% unchanged. The Bank indicated in a press release, which is available on its Web site at http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/fixed-dates/2011/rate_180111.html, that while the economic recovery in Canada is proceeding broadly as expected, the pace of both consumption growth […]

The federal Department of Finance has moved once again to tighten mortgage lending rules for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation-insured mortgages – generally those where the mortgage amount exceeds 80% of the cost of the home.   The new measures: Reduce the maximum amortization period to 30 years from 35 years for new government-backed insured […]

In its January 2009 budget, the federal government announced the creation of an incentive to provide for a 100% write-off in the year of acquisition for computer hardware and software acquired for business use. Qualifying assets are placed in a special capital cost allowance class for which the CCA rate is 100% and to which […]

The indexing factor for federal tax credits and brackets for 2011 is 1.4%. Consequently, the following federal tax rates and brackets are in effect for individuals for the 2011 tax year: Income level Federal tax rate $10,527- $41,544 15.0% $41,545 – $83,088 22.0% $83,089 – $128,800 26.0% Above $128,800 29.0% There is no change in […]

Dollar amounts on which individual non-refundable federal tax credits for 2011 are based, and the actual tax credit claimable, are as follows:   Credit amount                        Tax credit Basic personal amount                                          10,527                               1,579   Spouse or common-law partner amount                                                               10,527*                             1,579   Child amount                                                           2,131                                320   Eligible dependant amount                                    10,527*                               1,579   Age amount                                                           6,537                                   981 Net income threshold for erosion of […]

The general federal corporate tax rate and the rate applied to income from manufacturing and processing is reduced from 18.00% to 16.50%, effective January 1, 2011.   The small business tax rate remains at 11.0% and the federal small business limit is unchanged at $500,000.   The general corporate tax rate change will be pro-rated […]

The Canada Pension Plan contribution rate for 2011 is 4.95% of pensionable earnings for the year.   The maximum pensionable earnings for the year are $ 48,300, and the basic exemption is unchanged at $3,500.   The maximum employer and employee contribution for 2011 is therefore $2,217.60, and the maximum self-employed contribution is $4,435.20.

The Employment Insurance premium rate for 2011 is 1.78%.   Yearly maximum insurable earnings are set at $44,200, making the maximum employee premium $786.76.   As in previous years, employer premiums are 1.4 times the employee contribution. The maximum employer premium for 2011 is therefore $1101.46.

The latest issue of Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey shows that 69,000 jobs were created during the month of January, with that job growth split evenly between part-time and full-time positions.   Notwithstanding the unexpectedly large number of new jobs, the overall unemployment rate rose by 0.2% on a year-over-year basis, to 7.8%.  StatsCan attributed […]

TELEFILE and NETFILE services for filing of individual tax returns for the 2010 taxation year will be available on Monday February 14, 2011. Taxpayers who are eligible to file by either method will have received an access code as part of their 2010 tax return package.   Taxpayers who believe that they are eligible to […]

By the end of February 2011, employers are required to issue T4s slips for their employees summarizing employment income earned and deductions taken from that income during the 2010 tax year. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has issued a Tax tip for small business employers reminding them that, as of this year, it’s possible to […]

The federal Minister of Finance has announced that the 2011-12 federal budget will be brought down on Tuesday March 22. It is expected that the budget papers will be posted on the Department of Finance Web site at http://www.fin.gc.ca/fin-eng.asp, and the announcement of the budget date can be found on that Web site at http://www.fin.gc.ca/n11/11-019-eng.asp.