The annual TFSA limit for 2022 remains at $6,000. As such, if an individual has never contributed and has built room since the program’s inception in 2009, up to $81,500 can be contributed.  

Employees working from home in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic will again have the option to claim a deduction against their employment income using the temporary flat rate method. The maximum claim will increase to $500 from $400 in 2020.

Did you know? About 30% of first-time homebuyers received financial help from family members. The average amount gifted was $82,000 but as high as $130,000 and $180,000 in Toronto and Vancouver. These informal agreements should be documented in writing to protect all parties, especially to clarify whether the funds are a gift, a loan (and repayment terms) or an equity investment in the property.

The federal climate action incentive (Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan) will convert from a tax credit claimed on personal tax returns to quarterly payments in 2022. The first payment will be made in July 2022 and will be a double payment for the first two quarters of 2022. Subsequent payments will be made each January, April, July and October.

The December 14, 2021 Economic and Fiscal Update proposed a temporary refundable small businesses air quality improvement tax credit of 25% on eligible air quality improvement expenses incurred by small businesses to make ventilation and air filtration systems safer and healthier.

The credit will be available for qualifying expenditures between September 1, 2021 and December 31, 2022 related to the purchase or upgrade of mechanical heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, and the purchase of standalone devices designed to filter air using high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters, up to a maximum of $10,000 per location. There is also a $50,000 maximum claim to be shared among all affiliated entities. The $10,000 and $50,000 limits apply to expenditures over all years (since the beginning of the program) rather than to each particular taxation year.

The credit is available to qualifying corporations, partnerships and individuals other than trusts. A qualifying corporation is a Canadian-controlled private corporation (CCPC) that has (in combination with associated corporations) less than $15 million in taxable capital employed in Canada.

To qualify, expenditures must be made for a qualifying location in Canada used by the entity in its ordinary commercial activities.

Claiming the Credit

ACTION: Maintain and provide us with any receipts for amounts expended that may benefit from this tax credit.

In the Fall of 2021, the government revised several business supports provided due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The changes include extending the Canada Recovery Hiring Program (CRHP) to May 7, 2022 and increasing the subsidy rate to 50%. The wage and rent subsidies under the previous Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) are also being modified to provide much more targeted support to assist the hardest-hit businesses and those in the tourism and hospitality sector and extended to May 7, 2022.

Both the wage subsidy and the rent subsidy are available under any of the following three gateways:

Hardest-Hit Business Recovery Program – available to entities with a prior year revenue decline and a current period revenue decline of at least 50%; Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program – available to qualifying tourism or hospitality entities with a prior year revenue decline and a current period revenue decline of at least 40%; and Local Lockdown Program – available for businesses in all sectors, subject to a qualifying public health restriction, with a current revenue decline of at least 40% (25% in some periods).

Eligibility for the HBRP would require revenue declines of at least 50% for both of the following:

The 12-month revenue decline would be calculated as the average of all revenue decline percentages from March 2020 to February 2021 (claim periods 1-13, excluding either claim period 10 or 11, which used the same comparative periods). Any periods in which an entity was not carrying on its ordinary operations for reasons other than a public health restriction (for example, because it is a seasonal business) would be excluded from this calculation.

The HBRP would be based on the qualifying remuneration (the same amounts previously eligible for CEWS) and qualifying rent expense (the same amounts previously eligible for CERS) at a rate based on the current-month revenue decline. At the minimum revenue decline of 50%, the subsidy would be 10%, rising to a maximum of 50% where the revenue decline is 75% or more. These subsidy rates would be halved for periods after March 12, 2022.

Lockdown Support would also be available as under the previous CERS rules.

The THRP would target the tourism and hospitality sector, with examples including hotels, restaurants, bars, festivals, travel agencies, tour operators, convention centres, providers of cultural activities and convention and trade show organizers. 

Eligibility for the THRP would require revenue declines of at least 40% for both of the following:

At the minimum revenue decline of 40%, the subsidy would be 40%, equal to the revenue decline, rising to a maximum of 75% where the revenue decline is 75% or more. These subsidy rates would be halved for periods after March 12, 2022.

Lockdown support would also be available as under the previous CERS rules.

Under CERS, qualified rent expenses were limited to $75,000 per location and an aggregate of $300,000 for all locations within an affiliated group. The aggregate monthly cap is increased from $300,000 to $1,000,000 for rent subsidies under the new gateway.

Organizations that are subject to a public health restriction are proposed to be eligible for support at the same rates applicable for the THRP (see above), regardless of sector.

The base rules require having one or more locations subject to a public health restriction lasting for at least seven days in the current claim period that requires them to cease activities that accounted for at least 25% of total revenues during the prior reference period. This would not require meeting the 12-month revenue decline, only a current-month decline. It would be available to all affected organizations, regardless of sector.

ACTION: Targeted wage and rent subsidies are still available to those particularly hard-hit entities or those in the tourism and hospitality industry. Ensure to apply if eligible.

With numerous COVID-19 benefits being based on employment and remuneration levels, the federal government has likely become increasingly concerned with falsified employment records. However, this is not a new issue. In particular, the government already has experience dealing with false records used to increase access to employment insurance (EI) benefits.

Employers can face penalties of up to the greater of $12,000 and the total of all claimants’ penalties in relation to the offences. In addition, false claims by the applicant would result in an increased number of required hours to qualify for EI benefits in the future, with the specific number dependent on the value of the EI overpayment.

ACTION: Maintain supporting employment activity documentation as the government will be looking for situations in which employment records were falsified. 

Over the past few years, CRA has taken a targeted approach in reviewing amounts claimed under specific lines (based on the type of claim) of a corporate tax return. Various projects conducted included reviews of professional fees, travel expenses and the purchase of certain vehicles.

CRA has recently focused their efforts on advertising and promotion expenses claimed by corporations. As part of this most recent project, CRA is asking for the following:

While there are many reasons to obtain this type of information, CRA may be analyzing whether any amounts deducted were personal, not wholly or partially deductible, or should have been capitalized. For example, provided no exceptions are available, amounts paid for food, beverages or entertainment are only 50% deductible to the corporation. Also, green fees for golf and membership fees in a golf club are not deductible regardless of whether they are incurred for business purposes.

ACTION: Be aware that additional CRA activity in these areas could result in extra time and administrative costs.

The eligible educator school supply tax credit is a refundable tax credit that allows teachers and early childhood educators to claim up to $1,000 for amounts expended (for which no allowance or reimbursement was provided) for supplies and some durable goods used to teach or facilitate students’ learning. Individuals must have a certificate from their employer attesting to the eligibility of their expenses for the year.

In an October 19, 2021 Technical Interpretation, CRA stated that if a shift has been made to an online classroom due to COVID-19, supplies consumed could still be eligible for the educator school supply tax credit.

The government has proposed to enhance the eligible educator school supply tax credit to 25% of eligible supplies from the existing 15% credit and expand the list of durable goods eligible for the credit, both effective for 2021 tax years. The limit of $1,000 of eligible supplies remains unchanged.

The expanded list of durable goods includes all of the following (the first four items were previously allowed, while the other items have been added for 2021 and onwards):

ACTION: Ensure to provide receipts for amounts expended by teachers and early childhood educators based on the expanded list of eligible expenses for the credit.

The CWLB provides a $300 per week benefit to employees and self-employed persons unable to work due to a public health restriction lasting at least seven consecutive days. It will apply only to regions designated by the federal government as eligible in the period. This would be in regions where provincial or territorial governments have introduced capacity-limiting restrictions of 50% or more. CRA posted a webpage listing designated regions . As of January 11, 2022, Saskatchewan was the only region with no eligibility. Quebec and Northwest territories had certain regions eligible, while all the remaining provinces and territories had all regions eligible for at least some periods.

To be eligible, the applicant must also meet the following criteria:

Loss of income – the individual must either have:

Applicants who have voluntarily ceased to work, unless the cessation was reasonable, or failed to return to work when possible and reasonable to do so, are ineligible. Similar to the Canada Recovery Benefit, individuals will be ineligible for benefits during mandatory quarantine or self-isolation following a return from international travel. Where the inability to work results from a refusal to comply with a requirement to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the individual will be ineligible.

Where an individual received CWLB in 2021, their benefits will be reversed if they do not file their 2021 income tax return by December 31, 2022. Similarly, an individual receiving CWLB benefits in 2022 will lose entitlement if they do not file their 2021 and 2022 income tax returns by December 31, 2023.

Applications for benefits must be filed by the later of February 16, 2022, or 60 days from the end of the claim week.

ACTION: If you are eligible, ensure to make a timely claim. Also, if eligible, ensure your 2020 personal tax return was filed, and your 2021 return is filed to avoid required repayments.

Individuals who normally receive OAS are occasionally surprised when some OAS is subject to a special tax (commonly referred to as a “claw back”) with their T1 tax filings due to high earnings. In particular, OAS is clawed back at a rate of 15% of adjusted income (AI) received in that year over an indexed threshold amount.

The current and upcoming threshold amounts are $79,845 (2021) and $81,761 (2022). If receiving maximum OAS in 2021 (assuming no changes for items like deferred application, being over age 75, etc.), the full amount will be clawed back if 2021 AI is $129,757 or higher.

AI is net income before the deduction of any claw back with a few modifications, such as removal of Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) income inclusions.

OAS payments starting in July are subject to withholdings based on AI of the prior calendar year. If it is known that AI for the current year will be less than that of the prior year, Form T1213(OAS) can be filed to request reduced withholdings.

Future OAS payment increases of .6% per month of delay (to a maximum of 36% for 5 years of deferral) are provided to compensate for the deferral of OAS pension payments. This flexibility may permit a person to reduce or eliminate the OAS claw back by deferring the receipt of OAS until the income of the person is below the AI claw back threshold. If OAS will be clawed back in its entirety, it costs noting to delay but provides the benefit of increased future payments. Increased OAS payments also increase the AI level at which all OAS is clawed back.

A further possibility for a high-income individual is to retroactively apply early in a year after reaching age 65 to receive up to additional 11 months of benefits in a single calendar year, hopefully retaining some benefits in that one year. For high-income seniors, application could be delayed resulting in the full 36% enhancement and 23 payments received in the year the individual reaches age 72.

It is important to know how certain sources of income affect AI as any changes between the beginning claw back threshold and the amount at which OAS is completely eroded carry a 15% impact on OAS entitlement. Note that 115% of ineligible dividends and 138% of eligible dividends are included in AI. On the other hand, only 50% of capital gains are included.

Certain deductions such as non-capital and net capital losses, the capital gains deduction, and the northern residence deduction will not reduce claw back. As such, for example, while no tax may need to be paid on the sale of qualified small business shares or qualified farm property, OAS could still be significantly impacted. On the other hand, deductions for pension splitting, which are discretionary, do reduce AI.

If an individual’s AI will unavoidably already fully eliminate OAS, consider whether additional amounts that have high impacts on AI could be taken into income in the current year, with the after-tax amounts to be used to fund needs in future years. Likewise, if far below the prescribed threshold, the same may be considered as additional amounts do not erode OAS until that threshold is reached. Of course, the advantages would have to be balanced against any differences in applicable marginal tax rates and other income-tested benefits.

Individuals should also consider whether funds needed for the year could be obtained from sources that do not impact AI at all, such as capital dividends, capital withdrawals from investments, trust distributions of capital, TFSA withdrawals, repayment of shareholder loans or obtaining new loans.

ACTION: Care should be taken to minimize the current year and future year claw backs to Old Age Security payments.

- Nizam Shajani LL.M (Tax), CPA, CA, TEP, MBA, BBA, Tax & Assurance Partner

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