2015 NEW - Universal Child Care Benefit for Canadians

Universal Child Care Benefit

In 2006, our Government introduced the Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB), which provides all families with up to $1,200 per year for each child under the age of 6. The UCCB currently provides direct federal support to approximately 1.7 million families with young children.

Now, the Government is proposing to enhance the UCCB by providing up to $1,920 per year for each child under the age of 6, and introducing a new benefit of up to $720 per year for children aged 6 through 17.  The UCCB enhancements would take effect starting January 2015 and would begin to be reflected in monthly payments to recipients in July 2015, pending Parliamentary approval of the necessary legislation.

The July 2015 payment would include up to six months of benefits to cover the January to June 2015 period. About 4 million families are expected to benefit from these enhancements. These enhancements to the UCCB would replace the Child Tax Credit, starting in the 2015 tax year.

For this and other relevant information on Canadian Tax Matters, please use this link to our website and look for the red banner on the bottom left of the home page.
http://www.liwanpo.com/index.php

Tax Clearance Certificates - What you don't know can hurt you!

After the death of a family member, surviving relatives often face daunting challenges sorting and managing a deceased person’s affairs.  Not the least of these challenges is the need to meet the requirements of CRA for securing Clearance Certificates.  In light of this, we have dedicated this month’s newsletter to providing basic information regarding this somewhat complex process.  

Our July 2014 Newsletter contains questions and answers in detail:

- What is a Clearance Certificate?

- Do I have to get one?

- How do I get one?

- What forms and documents will I need?  

To get a full copy of this and other relevant Newsletters, use this link to our website and you will find this and other information on our Taxes Pages, under Personal Taxes. 

http://www.liwanpo.com/taxes_personal.php 

2013 Home Buyer's Plan (HBP) and Tax Credit

Home ownership for the first time buyer has become a significant cost challenge for most. If you bought a home in 2013, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has a tax credit and a plan that may help you save on this purchase.  We hope that this month’s newsletter will give you the information you need to leverage this opportunity....

For this and other related Newsletters, please use this link to our website personal taxes page: 

http://www.liwanpo.com/taxes_personal.php 

Charitable Gifts - 2013 First Year for FDSC 25% additional tax credit

2013 is the first year for a potential 25% increase in tax savings on Charitable Gifts for First Time Donor's Super Credit

Our December 2013 Newsletter is all about how to save taxes, and there is interesting news for First Time Charitable Donations.  A new tax credit called the FDSC (First Time Donor's Super Credit) allows for an additional 25% in tax credits for qualified donors.  In addition there are other tax saving ideas for you to consider.  This message is especially important though, because the opportunity to use these saving options will expire at year end!   This is time sensitive information so use this link now to get all the details you need to see if these ideas work for you.  The link below will take you to the home page on our website, look for the red banner "Other News and Events" and click on the newsletter  2013 Time Sensitive Tax Savings

2013 Combined Personal Tax Rates

For those of us interested in getting a head start on preparing for our 2013 taxes, we are pleased to be able to provide a chart which outlines the tax rates for all levels of taxable income as well as personal Federal and Ontario basic credits and equivalent to spouse.  This chart also includes a tax update for Dividends.  To access the chart and other tax information please use the link provided, and as always I am only a phone call away for personal help:  Jacques Liwanpo CA Website

Did you buy a home in 2012? Check out this tax information

Did you know?

If you bought a home in 2012, you may be able to save on your taxes through the first-time homebuyers’ tax credit.

 This information is not necessarily “new”, but very well may still be “news” for some first time homebuyers. However, we are providing the following updated reminder to those who may have purchased a home in 2012. 

To qualify for the homebuyer’s tax amount:

•You or your spouse or common-law partner must have purchased a qualifying home; and

•You did not live in another home owned by you or your spouse or common-law partner that year or in any of the four preceding years.

 

If you would like more detail about this and other tax credits currently available to you, please visit our website http://liwanpo.com/taxes_personal.php

 

Canada Pension Changes: CPP, OAS, GIS Summary

It has been some time since we have had significant news from the Government of Canada, but as you may have heard, they are currently proposing to make changes to eligibility for OAS and GIS. In addition to this we have recently seen the implementation of changes to the Canada Pension Plan which I wrote about earlier.  I felt that this was important enough to write about again, so I have created a Newsletter with as much relevant detail as possible for both the CPP and OAS/GIS changes.  The February 2013 Newsletter is posted  on our website and you can use the links below to read the full article.

CPP Summary:

1. If you are under age 65 and already collecting CPP, but continuing to work you and your employer must now continue to pay CPP until age 65. 
2. If you are between ages 65 and 70 and continuing to work but elect to stop contributing to the CPP you must complete a form CPT30 for your employer AND SEND A COPY TO REVENUE CANADA.    If you do not elect to stop, you and your employer must continue to pay CPP until age 70.  (A copy of the CPT30 form is attached to the end of the Newsletter for your information)

OAS/GIS Summary:

The Old Age Security (OAS) Pension is a monthly benefit available to Canadian applicants 65 years of age who meet the Canadian legal status and residence requirements.  However, the Government of Canada is proposing to change the eligibility rules for the Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement payments.  If you were born before 1957 this will not affect you, but for the rest of us it may mean changing the way we plan our retirement years.    

As usual, we have posted this under the red banner on our website homepage. You can read this and other relevant articles using the link to the website homepage or our "Library" page for more details:

http://liwanpo.com/
http://liwanpo.com/resources_newsletter.php

As you know, I am always happy to hear from you so if you would like to discuss this or other issues, please feel free to call me.