The 2019 Federal Budget included no tax rate changes and no changes to the capital gains inclusion rate.
The top six areas of interest for accountants and other financial professionals include the following:
Housing: Home buyer’s program enhancements, the CMHC will fund up to 10% of new homes, and more CRA activity looking for errors in tax and GST/HST reporting in the real estate sector.
Clean Energy Vehicle Incentives: Personal rebates and immediate business write-offs for many clean energy vehicles.
Incentives for Media: Personal credit for digital media subscriptions, tax credits for donations to non-profit news organizations and business tax credits for wages paid to journalists. But not for broadcasters!
Farming and Fishing: Small business deduction restrictions removed for sales of farm commodities and fishing catches to arm’s length purchasers. Funding earmarked for supply-managed farms, including quota value protection.
Training: New personal tax credit accumulating at $250 per year will fund up to half of training costs. EI coverage for training time – four weeks every four years.
Retirement: Enhanced GIS payments for some working seniors. New RRSP/RRIF investment options include an annuity which does not start payments until age 85.