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.

In its March 1 interest rate announcement, the Bank of Canada chose to maintain the bank rate at its current level of 1.25%. The Bank noted on the domestic side that while the economic recovery in Canada is proceeding slightly more quickly than anticipated and consumption growth remains strong, there is evidence that household spending […]

The Department of Finance has released The Fiscal Monitor for the month of December 2010, summarizing federal government fiscal results for that month and for the first three quarters of the 2010-11 fiscal year. Overall, for the first nine months of the fiscal year, the deficit stood at $27.4 billion, as compared to the $39.4 billion […]

Statistics Canada’s Consumer Price Index for the month of January indicates that consumer prices rose by 2.3% on a year-over-year basis, down very slightly from the 2.4% year-over-year inflation rate recorded for December 2010. The largest single contributor to inflation for both December and January was energy prices, which rose by 10.5% for December and […]

The federal government has announced two new measures which will provide additional flexibility and/or protection to consumers of financial services. The first such measure will reduce the maximum cheque hold period for consumers and small- and medium-sized enterprises. The maximum hold period is currently seven business days for all cheque amounts. This would be reduced […]

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) provides a guide, P151(E), Canadian Residents Going Down South. That guide, which outlines the application of Canadian and U.S. tax laws to such taxpayers, as well as information on maintaining one’s provincial health care coverage, was recently updated and re-issued by the CRA.   The updated version of Guide P151E can […]