R.E. Condon Accounting Services Ltd

03/09/2025

📅 Tax season is here and it’s important to know these key dates:
April 30th, 2025 – Deadline for most individuals to file and pay taxes.
June 16th, 2025 – Deadline for self-employed individuals and their spouses/common-law partners to file their taxes. Keep in mind, any taxes owed are still due by April 30th.
Doing your taxes on time means you’ll keep receiving the benefit and credit payments you may be eligible for! 💸 https://ow.ly/TAwO50Vb7nq

03/27/2024

11/22/2023

7 Great Reasons To Use PDF Files


Usually referred to by its acronym (and file extension), the Portable Document Format has been around since 1993, and it is well entrenched as the industry standard for fixed-layout documents across a multitude of different platforms. Being the most versatile and widely supported document format of all, PDF is used for everything from electronic books on e-reader devices to business presentations and much more.

#1. Run a Paperless Office

A typical office prints tens of thousands of documents every year, making the costs mount up quite significantly. However, the PDF format is ideal for the paperless office environment, since it provides support for forms, digital signatures and almost everything else you need to avoid printing documents all the time. By relying on PDF as much as possible, you can cut office printing costs dramatically.

#2. Facilitate Collaboration

PDF editing products are particularly well-suited to the office environment, since they help to facilitate collaboration. Not only is the format universally supported across a vast range of different devices and operating systems; it also supports annotation capabilities to enhance collaboration. Some editors even provide shared review capabilities, allowing team members to respond to each other’s comments.

#3. Display Rich Media

The PDF format can do more than just display text and images. You can also embed rich media such as video or even Flash animations. However, even though not all devices might not normally be able to display such content, almost any PDF viewer, such as the industry-leading Adobe Acrobat, can render rich media without a problem. As such, PDF is the obvious choice for interactive documents.

#4. Save Storage Space

Modern businesses rely heavily on digital data to such an extent that they need to think carefully about the storage devices and formats they use. The PDF format is particularly effective when it comes to saving space, although it uses lossless compression so there’s no sacrificing the quality of visual content. As such, PDF files are generally much more economical than most other document formats.

#5. Provide Forms

If you’re thinking about running a paperless office, one of your main concerns may be how to handle forms in such an environment. However, the PDF format fully supports interactive documents such as fillable forms, making it the perfect format for capturing important data from clients and colleagues. Best of all, anyone with a PDF viewer can complete PDF forms; they don’t need an actual PDF editor instead.

#6. Consistent Appearance

Thanks to their consistent appearance across all supported devices, PDF is ideal for creating and sharing professional portfolios and presentations, such as whitepapers, case studies and e-books. A PDF file is always rendered in the same way, whether it’s on a large desktop screen or a tiny smartphone screen. There’s no need to worry about your documents being truncated or missing content in other PDF readers.

#7. Improve Security

With businesses around the world facing dozens of attempted cyber-attacks every week, it is imperative to take every possible precaution to safeguard potentially sensitive data. As the wonderfully versatile format that it is, PDF supports high levels of data encryption, making it a perfectly viable format for safely sharing confidential data over normal channels.

Final Words

There is no document format more versatile than PDF, and this is because of the fact that it encapsulates all related data into a single file. This information includes any custom fonts, images, videos, interactive elements and any other assets belonging to the document. In other words, a PDF file is a single file containing everything that it needs to look and feel the way its author intended.

10/17/2023

Underused Housing Tax
The Government of Canada implemented the Underused Housing Tax (UHT) on June 9, 2022, which
impacts certain residential property owners as of December 31, 2022.
A residential property owner who is an excluded owner is not required to file a UHT return or pay the
annual tax. A residential property owner who is an affected owner must file the UHT return by April 30
of the following year. Affected owners may be required to pay an annual 1% tax on the taxable value or
the fair market value (FMV) of the vacant or underused housing.
Who is an excluded owner?
An excluded owner includes, but is not limited to:
 A Canadian citizen or permanent resident (unless they are an affected owner)
 Any person who owns residential property as a trustee of a mutual fund trust, real estate
investment trust, or specified investment flow‐through trust (SIFT) for Canadian income tax
purposes
 A Canadian corporation whose shares are listed on a Canadian stock exchange
 A registered charity
 A cooperative housing corporation, or
 An Indigenous governing body or a corporation wholly owned by an Indigenous governing body
Who is an affected owner?
An affected owner includes:
 An individual who is not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
 An individual who owns a residential property as a trustee of a trust
 Any person who owns a residential property as a partner of a partnership
 A corporation that is incorporated outside Canada
 A Canadian corporation whose shares are not listed on a Canadian stock exchange (i.e. CCPCs
and other private corporations), or
 A Canadian corporation without share capital
Residential Property
You are only required to report if you own a residential property. For the purposes of the UHT, examples
of residential property are as follows:
 Detached house or similar building that contains not more than three dwelling units (duplexes
and triplexes)
 Semi‐detached house, rowhouse unit, townhouses, and residential condominium unit, or
 Laneway houses and coach houses, cottages, cabins and chalets that are not for commercial use
Examples of buildings that are not considered residential properties:
 Quadruplexes (buildings that have four dwelling units)
 High‐rise apartment buildings
 Buildings that are primarily (more than 50%) for retail or office use and that contain an
apartment
 Commercial condominium units, or
 Boarding houses and lodging houses, commercial cottages, cabins and chalets for commercial
use, hotels, motels, inns and bed and breakfasts, floating homes, mobile homes, park model
trailers or travel trailers, motor homes and camping trailers
Exemptions to Tax
There are numerous exemptions available to affected owners. The residential property could be exempt
from the UHT depending on:
 The type of owner
o A specified Canadian corporation
o A partner of a specified Canadian partnership, or a trustee of a specified Canadian trust
o A new owner in the calendar year, or
o A deceased owner, or a co‐owner or personal representative of a deceased owner
 The availability of the residential property
o Newly constructed
o Not suitable to be lived in year‐round, or seasonally inaccessible, or
o Uninhabitable for a certain number of days because of disaster or hazardous conditions
or renovations
 The location and use of the residential property
o A vacation property located in an eligible area1 of Canada and used by you or your
spouse or common‐law partner for at least 28 days in the calendar year
 The occupant of the residential property
o It is the primary place of residence for you, your spouse or common‐law partner, or for
your child who is attending a designated learning institution, or
o At least 180 days in the calendar year are included in one or more qualifying occupancy
periods for your ownership of the residential property
Reminder: Affected owners are required to file the UHT return even if they are eligible for an above
exemption.
UHT Calculation
UHT is 1% of the value of the residential property, multiplied by their ownership percentage. Value of
the property can be taxable value2 or FMV3.
1 CRA has designed a tool for owners to search if property in an eligible area qualifies for the vacation property exemption.
2 The taxable value is the greater of the property tax assessment value or the most recent sale price of a related property during the year.
3 The FMV will be determined by getting an appraisal of the property. An appraisal report must be prepared by an accredited, professional real
estate appraiser operating at arm’s length from the owner.
If FMV is used for the purpose of UHT calculation, an election must be filed by April 30th of the following
calendar year.
UHT Return
An affected owner must file a UHT Return (Form UHT‐2900) for a residential property even if the
ownership is exempt from the UHT by April 30 of the following calendar year. The affected owner must
file a separate return for each residential property owned or if the property is owned by multiple
owners.
To file a return, you will need a social insurance number, individual tax number, or a Canadian business
number. If you are a corporation, you must use a business number with an Underused Housing Tax (RU)
program account identifier code to file your UHT Return.
Penalties
Penalties for failing to file the UHT Return when it is due is a minimum of:
 $5,000 for individuals
 $10,000 for corporations
An affected owner could be subject to UHT on an exempt property if the UHT return is not completed.
There will be no penalties or interest assessed for 2022 UHT returns as long as they are filed and the
applicable tax is paid by October 31, 2023.
Conclusion
If you are an excluded owner, no action is required on your part. Anyone else who owns residential
property may want to consider discussing your situation

03/29/2023

10 takeaways from the 2023-2024 federal budget
The tough economic environment was obviously on Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s mind as she prepared her 2023-2024 budget, tabled on the afternoon of March 28. But it wasn’t the only thing on the agenda. An overview.
March 29, 2023

Along with the economic situation, the state of Canada’s public finances was on analysts’ radar with the approach of the latest federal budget. After the sharp increase in government spending induced by the pandemic, the question of balancing the budget has been regularly back on the table. Last year, without formally setting a target date, Minister Freeland had talked about a possible return to a balanced budget in 2027-2028. According to her new projections, that will not be possible, due mainly to the economic slowdown and the level of government spending. Without specifying a timeline, she does, however, promise spending controls that will help to gradually reduce the deficit.

Bar graph showing the Canadian government's budgetary balance for fiscal years 2022-2023 to 2027-2028. The graph shows that the deficit, which was $43 billion in 2022-2023, will be reduced to $40.1 billion in 2023-2024. The government expects to reduce it further, to $35.0 billion in 2024-2025, $26.8 billion in 2025-2026, $15.8 billion in 2026-2027, and $14.0 billion in 2027-2028.

While it doesn’t include any sweeping fiscal measures such as broad-based tax cuts, for example, this third Freeland budget contains programs that could impact many Canadians, especially in terms of the cost of living and health care.

Here are 10 of the most noteworthy initiatives.

1. A new “Grocery Rebate”
The budget introduced the creation of a “Grocery Rebate” to help Canadians cope with inflation, which is hitting the cost of groceries particularly hard. This measure will take the form of a GST credit, a program that is already in place, and will target lower-income households. The amount of the rebate will vary depending on the household situation, providing as much as $467 for a couple with two children and $234 for a single person with no children, while seniors will receive an extra $225, on average. The government estimates that 11 million Canadians will benefit from this assistance, at a cost of $2.5 billion.

2. Moving toward a new Dental Care Plan
The new Canadian Dental Care Plan announced in the 2022-2023 budget will be taking effect in 2023. As expected, the plan will cover dental care for uninsured Canadians with annual family income of less than $90,000, with no co-pays for those whose family income is under $70,000. The budget provides financing of $13 billion over five years starting in 2023-2024, with $4.4 billion per year after that. It also provides $250 million over three years starting in 2025-2026, and $75 million per year after that, to establish an Oral Health Access Fund that will focus on the needs of vulnerable populations, as well as rural and remote communities.

3. Easier access to RESP funds, and more generous grants
In an environment of high inflation, the government wants to make it easier to access money saved in a registered education savings plan (RESP). Remember that there are limits on the RESP withdrawals that can be made as Educational Assistance Payments (EAP) during the first 13 weeks of an educational program. Minister Freeland proposes to raise the ceiling for these payments from $5,000 to $8,000 for full-time students and from $2,500 to $4,000 for part-time students. She also proposes to allow divorced or separated parents to open a joint RESP for their children, which will make it easier and more affordable for parents to save for their children’s education.

Similarly, Minister Freeland plans to increase the Canada Student Grants by 40%, which could provide up to $4,200 for a full-time student. She is also raising the interest-free Canada Student Loan limit from $210 to $300 per week of studies. Note that students over age 22 will no longer have to undergo credit screening to qualify for the federal grants or loans for students.

4. Higher alternative minimum tax
For very high-income taxpayers, the budget contains some significant changes to a provision known as the alternative minimum tax, which is intended to prevent these individuals from unduly reducing their taxable income by optimizing their deductions. The AMT rate will rise from 15% to 20.5%, although the basic exemption will also increase from $40,000 to $173,000. Note, too, that the government will now start including 100% of capital gains in its calculations. Under the current rules, only 80% of capital gains are taken into account. If you think that this measure will affect you, you will no doubt want to talk to your advisor and your accountant.

Still in the area of taxes, the government has confirmed the introduction of a 2% tax on share buybacks by public companies. The proposed tax will apply as of January 1, 2024 to the annual net value of share buybacks by public corporations and certain publicly traded trusts and partnerships in Canada. However, a company will not be subject to this tax in years when its gross buybacks total less than $1 million.

5. A commitment to energy transition
The plan announced by Minister Freeland to encourage energy transition could potentially have a major impact on the companies involved. Indeed, the budget provides total investments of $80 billion over 10 years to support Canada’s energy transition. Of this amount, $20 billion will go to the Canada Infrastructure Bank for strategic financing; $26 billion will be used to create the 15% refundable tax credit for investments in clean electricity; and $11 billion is for the creation of a 30% refundable tax credit for cleantech investments. These initiatives are in addition to the $23 billion for the creation of a refundable tax credit for clean hydrogen production investments that was announced in last fall’s economic update.

6. Better control of credit card fees
Do you run a business that accepts credit cards? The budget introduces a reduction in credit card transaction fees for small businesses. Under an agreement with Visa and Mastercard, over 90% of credit card-accepting businesses will see their interchange fees reduced by up to 27% compared to the existing weighted average rate. The government expects that these reductions will allow the small businesses in question to save about a billion dollars over five years. At the same time, there are measures to protect the existing reward points that Canadians receive from Canada’s large banks.

7. Better framework for electronic device manufacturers
The budget also contains a measure that might interest the many people who have a drawer filled with all kinds of old cellphone chargers. The government plans to explore implementing a standard charging port for electronic devices, a move it frames as environmental since it could reduce electronic waste. From the same perspective, the government intends to implement a “right to repair” by introducing a targeted framework for home appliances and electronics in 2024.

8. Cracking down on junk fees
In a similar vein, the government plans to better monitor the sometimes-elevated hidden fees charged by some companies, such as higher telecom roaming charges, event and concert fees, excessive baggage fees, and unjustified shipping and freight fees.

9. 988: three numbers to help prevent su***de
Mental health and su***de are issues of concern to many families. In this context, the Freeland budget proposes to provide $158.4 million over three years to support the implementation and operation of the new 988 telephone line. As of November 30, 2023, Canadians will be able to call or text 988 at any time to access su***de prevention services and receive mental health crisis support.

10. For improved service in airports
Finally, if you are among the many people who have recently gone through a chaotic experience at an airport, here’s some news that should interest you: the Freeland budget proposes to provide $1.8 billion over five years, starting in 2023-24, to the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) to improve service, reduce security screening wait times, and strengthen security measures at airports.

Of course, these are only 10 measures out of a budget that contains countless others. To go beyond this overview, you can check out the documentation released by the government, which you will find here , You will be redirected to an external website.. And feel free to reach out to your advisor, as well, who can throw more light on this subject as well as any other financial matters.