Tax Tips for the Canadian Workplace
Valuable tax preparation resources are available to communities across Ontario prepared by the Certified General Accountants of Ontario www.cga-ontario.org.
Here is a snapshot of tips for the workplace:
• If you need to finance your business, consider establishing a line of credit with your financial institution. The interest incurred on a line of credit used exclusively to finance business purchases is tax deductible.
• Carrying charges for purchasing Canada savings bonds (CSB) through a payroll-deduction plan are eligible for the interest expense deduction.
• Flexible employee benefit programs, which allow employees to custom design their own package of health and other benefits, are popular in the workplace. Take care when structuring such plans because taxable benefits can result. If, for example, an employee accumulates flex credits and those benefits are received in cash, that amount is generally considered taxable income.
• If your employer provides you with an allowance to purchase an electronic device (e.g., a tablet computer) for use at work, this amount is generally considered a taxable benefit. To avoid this, consider transferring ownership of the device to the employer and ensuring that any personal use is incidental.
• Specific costs incurred by employers to improve business premises' access for people who are disabled may be deducted in the year they are incurred and need not be capitalized.
• Don't forget to include business-storage space in the basement and elsewhere, when determining the proportion of your home used for commercial purposes.
• If you convert an asset originally acquired for personal use into a business asset that is used to produce income (such as a computer), it might be possible to claim CCA based on the asset's value at the time of conversion. A certified general accountant can help you with any valuations and calculations required.
• Union dues do not necessarily have to be paid to a Canadian organization. Employment-related annual dues paid to a trade union outside Canada might also be tax deductible.
-- News Canada
