COVID-19

Many businesses in Canada have taken advantage of Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA). The initial program offered $40,000 with 1/4 i.e. $10,000 is forgivable if certain conditions are met. Later on, the program expanded and offered an additional $60,000 with an additional $10,000 forgivable. The forgivable portion of the CEBA loans must be included in the income during the year funds...

A lot of people have claimed CERB for the full 28 weeks period, totalling up to $14,000. Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has issued letters to the taxpayers who they think might not have been eligible. The confusion came because the CRA did not mention the word “Net” while explaining the self-employment for CERB purposes. Self-employment income is always net when reporting on the...

Canada Emergency Business Account (aka CEBA) has been the most talked-about government support program for small businesses. Since its launch, it has helped many small businesses with the liquidity pressures faced during the pandemic. Many small businesses find the ease of access and a waiver of $10,000 out of $40,000 principle amount very attractive features. Unfortunately, CEBA comes with...

Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) applications are open now. CERS provides much-needed support to Canadian businesses struggling with rent payments during the pandemic. If you have already applied for Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) you will find the process quite familiar. In the below post, we are going to have a quick overview of CERS instead of going into more details. The Canada...

As we are in the final quarter of 2020, many wonder if they are subject to U.S. Income taxes due to the travel restrictions earlier in the year! Good News: Yes, there is an exception available! Generally, if you meet the substantial presence test (SPT), you are subject to U.S. income tax filing requirements. May Canadians spend a significant portion of the year in the U.S. especially in...

Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) has been providing significant support to Canadian jobs by covering 75% of employee’s wages (sometimes up to 85%, see new CEWS rules).A total of $35.31 billion has been paid under CEWS to unique applicants of 312,750 against 1,094,330 applications made by them (see updated...

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has introduced additional reporting requirements for T4 Information returns of 2020. The purpose of these additional requirements is to validate the benefit payments to Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), Canada Emergency Students Benefits (CESB) and Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS). All of these programs provide much-needed relief and support to...

NOTE: the Government is proposing to extend the CEWS further until June 2021. Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) has undergone major changes in July 2020.Extension of CEWS...

Almost a month ago, in May, the government announced expanded eligibility for Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA). Previously, only the businesses with a minimum of $20,000 in payroll were eligible. After facing a lot of criticism and feedback, the government decided to expand the eligibility program to include more businesses. UPDATE: BUSINESSES CAN NOW APPLY FOR $20,000 EXPANSION FOR...

The Government had rolled out its  Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) to support small businesses due to pandemic. Since the start of the program there has been a much criticism over the “exclusion” of certain small businesses. One of the key requirements for CEBA is that a business should have T4 of minimum $20,000 for 2019. That excluded a lot of small businesses,...