There appears to be quite a bit of confusion surrounding the announcement made in Budget 2012 that the penny would be eliminated from our coinage system. Some Canadians believe that by eliminating the penny, businesses would always round up the cost of individual items and hence drive up prices. That is not quite true. The [...]
The increase in the age of eligibility of the Old Age Security program in Budget 2012 was widely telegraphed in advance but there were still a few surprises. Here are the other major initiatives introduced by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty in Budget 2012: Travellers’ Exemptions Increased The travellers’ exemption is a dollar limit that Canadian [...]
US Mutual Fund giant Vanguard announced today that it is setting up shop in Canada and will announce its product line-up once it has submitted a preliminary prospectus with regulators. Vanguard’s reference to providing “sound solutions for Canadian advisors and their clients” suggests that its initial focus will be on the advisor channel. As most [...]
Now that the Conservatives have won a long-coveted majority, what pocket book measures can Canadians expect from the new Government? The Election Platform put out by the Conservatives contains the following key proposals (the * represents proposals that will be implemented when the federal budget is balanced): Children’s Arts Tax Credit: A $500 credit per [...]
KPMG has put together a handy table comparing the platforms of all the major political parties on the topic of corporate taxes, personal taxes, child and family care, education, environmental measures and sales taxes. The Conservatives are saying they will continue with the current plan of cutting corporate taxes to 15% by next year. The [...]
In his recent newsletter, financial planner Kurt Rosentreter explains why 30-year old Canadians are, financially speaking, screwed. One reason for the dismal outlook is simply the way things are today what with traditional pensions disappearing and home prices as high as they are. But the main reason, according to Mr. Rosentreter, is the way today’s [...]
If elected, the Liberals promise to work on a new, voluntary supplement to the Canada Pension Plan that they call the Secure Retirement Option (SRO). Here’s how it would work: Canadians can voluntarily contribute an additional 5 to 10 percent of their paycheck into a retirement fund backed by the CPP. A contribution to the [...]
In their election platform unveiled over the weekend, the Liberal Party of Canada is proposing that if elected they will implement a new program called the Canadian Learning Passport. Under the program, the Liberals will pay $1,000 annually over 4 years for every high school student who attends college, university or CEGEP. Kids from low-income [...]
The Family Tax Cut that the Conservatives say makes “the tax system fairer” disproportionately benefits one-income families with very high household incomes. I ran some numbers using the excellent Income Tax Estimator available here to find out how much benefit accrues to a one-income household with two children at various income levels. If you look [...]
There are some pretty big ‘ifs’ attached to the announcement made by the Conservative Party today that they are planning on allowing families with children split up to $50,000 of income for federal income tax purposes. First, the Conservatives will have to get re-elected with a majority because they are proposing to implement the promise [...]
