Welcome to Tax Season 2024.
The entire Vaive and Associates’ team hopes you and your loved ones are staying safe and well.
Your 2024 Personal Income Tax Return Welcome Package.
We are continually working on improving and streamlining our processes to ensure that work on your tax returns runs as smoothly as possible. Here are some things to note for this year:
We normally mail out our tax organizer envelopes in early February. We’ve included a fillable version of the organizer with this welcome package, which you can print and return with your tax materials or upload to our secure portal. If you would like to have the physical organizer envelopes like in prior years, that’s fine too. Just let a member of our team know and we will send them out.
We are encouraging electronic document delivery again this year. You can submit your materials to us via our secure portal as an alternative to sending in hard copies. We can also provide you with copies of the tax returns and supporting schedules in PDF format on our secure portal as well. If it’s easier or more convenient for you to send documents in paper format, we are perfectly fine with that. Sometimes, there’s just so much material that it simply isn’t practical to scan everything.
At the present time, our building is closed to the public. We will have someone in our office Monday to Friday from 8am to 3pm. If you want to drop off your tax materials to us and the front entrance to the building is closed, we will have a phone number posted on the front door at street level. Just call us and a member of our team will give you a code to buzz yourself in.
We require a T183 form to be signed before we can electronically file your personal tax return(s) with the Canada Revenue Agency. We will once again be offering an electronic signature option through Adobe Sign. As before, a member of our administrative team will send an email to inform you that your return(s) have been completed with instruction on how the return is being delivered (via portal, email, courier, or pickup). A second email will then be sent from Adobe Sign with instructions for completing electronic signature. Adobe Sign requires an email address for every taxpayer/individual who is signing. This means that we will need a unique email address for every member of the family for whom we are preparing a return (unless the returns are for minor children, or other family members for whom you have Power of Attorney and can legally sign on their behalf). If you would like to use the electronic signature option, please send us all email addresses to be used for this purpose (spouses, children, parents, grandparents, etc.) on the enclosed ‘Adobe Sign’ form. We will continue to accept signed T183 forms via portal upload, email, and on paper if the Adobe Sign method does not work for you.
We require that all clients sign the enclosed engagement letter as agreement for us to complete work on their tax returns. All family members can be included on a single engagement letter. One adult family member should sign the form, and the names of other family members covered by the agreement should be included where indicated on the letter.
If you need help or have questions, you can reach our amazing support staff:
Gemma Baldwin (gbaldwin@vaiveandassociates.ca or 613-369-5064 x3748)
Shannon Harrison (sharrison@vaiveandassociates.ca or 613-369-5064 x5182)
With those procedural things in mind, here are some important things to note that are new for this coming tax season:
In Budget 2024 the Federal government announced an increase in the capital gains inclusion rate from one half to two thirds on the portion of capital gains realized in a taxation year that exceed $250,000. On January 31, 2025, the Federal government announced that these changes will no longer take affect as of June 25, 2024 and instead will only affect capital gains incurred on or after January 1, 2026. We will continue to monitor the status of this proposed legislation.
In Budget 2023 the Federal government announced a series of changes to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) regime in Canada, which were implemented on June 20, 2024 via Bill C-69. These changes apply retroactively to tax years starting on January 1, 2024. At a high level, the main changes to the AMT regime are an increase in the AMT rate, an increase in the basic exemption amount, and limitations to various tax credits and deductions that were available under the old regime. If you have questions about how the new AMT regime could affect your tax bill for 2024, please contact our office.
On December 31, 2024, the Federal government announced that they intend to extend the deadline to make charitable donations for the 2024 tax year to be February 28, 2025. This means that if you made a donation after December 31, 2024 but prior to February 28, 2025, you could benefit from the tax credit on your 2024 income tax return.
On June 20, 2024, legislation was passed that now requires short-term rentals (i.e. AirBNB, Vrbo, etc.) to be compliant with the laws in the municipality/province in which they operate to claim tax deductions. This means that if you are operating a short-term rental property and you are not compliant with municipal/provincial laws, then you will be taxed on the gross income earned on the short-term rental property and not the net income. For more information, click here.
As introduced in 2023, individuals who sell their residential property within 12 months will be subject to anti-flipping rules. Under these rules the profits from the sale will be fully taxed as business income (with few exceptions). This means that individuals selling a home they have owned for less than 12 months will no longer be able eligible to claim capital gains treatment (50% taxable) or the principal residence exemption on the sale.
Did you sell your house in 2024 or turn it into a rental property? If so, the CRA requires that the sale be reported on your tax return in order to claim the principal residence exemption. Failure to report may result in penalties and the CRA may apply the penalty outside of the normal three-year reassessment period. Please include the statement of adjustments for the sale, closing date, along with a note describing the house and when you bought it.
As of January 1, 2024, taxpayers are required to remit tax payments that are in excess of $10,000 to the Canada Revenue Agency electronically or they will be assessed a penalty of $100 per payment. Payments made physically at a bank with a remittance voucher are considered to be made electronically.
Have you found some donation receipts that haven’t been claimed? You can claim any donations missed since 2019 on your 2024 return.
If you own foreign assets with a value greater than $100,000 (CAD) you are required to file a T1135 Foreign Income Verification Statement on or before the due date of your income tax return. Penalties will apply if this return is filed late. If this applies to you, or if you are unsure, please contact us to review your situation and confirm your reporting requirements.
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is moving towards direct deposit for all payments. If you wish to sign up for direct deposit, or your banking information has changed, please include a void cheque with your tax information.
The CRA is pushing electronic delivery of Notices of Assessment. By signing up for the CRA Online Mail, you will no longer receive paper notices and must sign up for MyAccount with the CRA in order to view this information. By default we are not enrolling our clients in this program. Please take a moment to indicate on the organizer envelope if you want to register for this service.
We would also like to reaffirm our commitment to protect the privacy of your information. Our practice has always been fully compliant with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). Any personal information contained in our files will only be used for income tax filing purposes and will only be communicated to the Canada Revenue Agency as required to file your personal income tax return. We will not disclose any information to third parties unless we are specifically authorized by you to do so. In short, we will continue to protect your personal information as if it were our own.
We look forward to working with you again this year. If you have any questions about the process or any tax matters, please feel free to call us at any time.
Yours very truly,
Vaive and Associates Professional Corporation | Chartered Professional Accountants
