To improve the efficiency of businesses, and allow Ontario to respond to a rapidly changing economic environment, the Ontario provincial government will create a new Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area Fund. This fund will fill a critical gap in regional development by investing in and supporting small and medium‐sized businesses in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area. The government’s $100 million commitment over the next 10 years aims to create and retain approximately 19,000 jobs and attract about $800 million in investments.
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Ontario is supporting growth and lowering costs for small businesses in communities across the province. About one‐third of Ontario workers are employed by small businesses, which have always been significant contributors to the success of the provincial economy.
As part of the 2017 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review, the Province announced more than $500 million in new initiatives over the next three years to lower costs and support small businesses in Ontario. This included a 22 per cent cut to the small business Corporate Income Tax rate, from 4.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent. Combined federal tax, the total rate will be reduced from 15% to 12.5% with small business limit for eligible income. Since 2017, the number of people in the province who can benefit from prescription drug coverage under the ODB program has nearly doubled to cover close to 60 per cent of the population. This includes four million children and youth, over two million seniors and more than one million people on social assistance.
Building on the success of OHIP+, in this Budget, Ontario is taking the next steps to expand access to, and improve the affordability of, prescription drugs. Starting in August 2019, OHIP+ will be expanded to seniors, eliminating the annual deductible and co‐payment for seniors under the ODB program — saving the average senior approximately $240 annually. Seniors’ prescription medications funded through the ODB program will be free‐ofcharge, regardless of income. This represents an investment of about $575 million per year by 2020–21. Much like the leadership role the Province played in enhancing the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Ontario is leading the way in national pharmacare by expanding OHIP+ to seniors. The government continues to work collaboratively with its federal, provincial and territorial partners to improve the affordability, accessibility and appropriate use of prescription drugs for Canadians. See Chapter IV, Section B: Working with Federal, Provincial, Territorial and Municipal Partners for more details. More Care for Children in Ontario, Don't be Sad if You Missed it Because Your Children Won't4/5/2018 Access to affordable, quality child care is essential for families. Ontario has already committed to
helping 100,000 more children up to age four access licensed child care, increasing the capacity for child care in Ontario. Since the 2017 Budget, Ontario has invested over $200 million to support new subsidies for 16,000 more children and over 11,900 new spaces in schools. In Budget 2018, the government is going further by implementing free preschool for children aged two‐and‐a‐half until eligible for kindergarten. Beginning in September 2020, free preschool will help reduce costs for families and ease transition to school for children across the province. An average Ontario family with a preschool‐aged child could save over $17,000 during the time their child is enrolled in a licensed preschool program. To help with the costs of infant and toddler care, the Province will provide additional operating funding of more than $160 million over three years, beginning in January 2019. This will help more Ontario families by reducing costs and eliminating fee subsidy waitlists. To help ensure that all children and families have access to a range of high‐quality and affordable child care programs and services, the government has invested a total of $530 million across the province since 2015–16, helping create 1,100 child care rooms and 19,000 child care spaces. Over the next six years, the government will be investing an additional $534 million to build 10,000 more preschool child care spaces in schools and 4,000 in other public spaces in the community. Making investments in early years makes sense for kids, parents and the economy. It gives our children the best start in life, and helps their parents return to the workforce. Chapter I: A Plan for Care
While Ontario’s economy has been performing well, the benefits of economic growth have not been shared evenly across the province. As the economy continues to change, it is getting harder for people to get ahead. Increasingly, families are facing mounting cost pressures impacting their ability to care for their loved ones. To help make life more affordable, the government has introduced programs like full-day kindergarten, free college or university tuition, free prescription medication for eligible children and youth under the age of 25, and a $15 per hour minimum wage. However, there is more work to do. To help address these challenges, the government is bringing forward a plan that will invest more in hospitals, mental health, long-term care and child care to help people get ahead today and prepare for tomorrow. This includes:
These days we are seeing two more cases with poor bookkeeping and no proper tax planning. These clients were paying unnecessarily at different levels. Please check resource page for Composition of Canadian Taxes
If I have a business, do I have to file both a personal and a business tax return?The type of income tax returns you have to file will depend on whether your business is incorporated. If you have an incorporated business, you must complete a corporate (T2) tax return for the business, and you must also complete a separate personal (T1) tax return.
If your business is incorporated, the business losses (non-capital losses) cannot be used to reduce income on your personal tax return. However, the non-capital losses of the corporation can be carried back, or carried forward to apply against corporate income in other years. If your business is not incorporated, then you only have to file a personal (T1) tax return. The income or loss from the business (proprietorship or partnership) will be included on your personal tax return. With your personal tax return, you will have to file a "statement of business activities" which includes an income statement for your business. If you have a loss from your business, and you have other income such as employment or investment income, then the business losses will reduce the other income on your tax return. Budget 2018 proposes to amend the provisions of the Income Tax Act pertaining to shares held as mark-to-market property so that the tax loss otherwise realized on a share repurchase is generally decreased by the
dividend deemed to be received on that repurchase when that dividend is eligible for the inter-corporate dividend deduction. This measure will apply in respect of share repurchases that occur on or after Budget Day. Budget 2018 proposes two measures, applicable to taxation years that begin after 2018, to limit tax deferral advantages on passive investment income earned inside private corporations. These measures take into account the feedback received from stakeholders in response to the July 2017 consultation.
Budget 2018 proposes to reduce the business limit for CCPCs (and their associated corporations) that have significant income from passive investments. Under this measure, the business limit will be reduced on a straight-line basis for CCPCs having between $50,000 and $150,000 in investment income. Budget 2018 proposes an amendment to the no tax-indifferent investor exception to the synthetic equity arrangement rules that will clarify that the exception cannot be met when a tax-indifferent investor obtains all or substantially all of the risk of loss and opportunity for gain or profit in respect of the Canadian share, in any way, including where the tax-indifferent investor has not entered into a synthetic equity arrangement or a specified synthetic equity arrangement in respect of the share.
The proposed amendments will apply to dividends that are paid, or become payable, on or after Budget Day. |
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