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Frederick Sullivan 0

Taxes Personal Finances

What you need to know about FHSAs, new tax cuts and crackdown

Publication date:

07 Apr 2022 • 9 hours ago • 5 minutes read • 6 Replies In this year's federal budget, several tax measures were introduced for individuals. In this year’s federal budget, several tax measures were introduced for individuals. Photo by Postmedia

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This year’s federal budget includes a variety of tax measures that affect individuals, businesses and charities. Here are some of the highlights.

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A new alternative minimum tax?

Currently, the highest federal tax rate of 33 percent starts on incomes above $221,708 for 2022. The budget made no rate changes, but the government expressed concern that “some high-income Canadians still have relatively little personal income tax as a part of of their income.” For example, 28 percent of filers with gross income over $400,000 pay an average federal tax rate of 15 percent or less by taking advantage of various tax deductions and tax credits.

Canada already has an Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), which has been around since 1986, but has not been substantially updated since its introduction. As a result, the budget said the government will examine a new minimum tax regime, expected to be unveiled in the fall 2022 economic update.

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homeowners

Various new tax measures for homeowners were included in the budget. For starters, we got more information about the upcoming Tax-Free First Home Savings Account (FHSA), a newly registered account. FHSA contributions would be tax deductible, and income earned in an FHSA would not be taxable during the plan, nor taxable when withdrawn to purchase a first home.

To open an FHSA, you must be at least 18 years old and a resident of Canada. In addition, you must not have lived in a home that you owned in the year you open the account or in the previous four calendar years. Individuals can only participate once in their lifetime and, once the money is withdrawn to buy a home, the FHSA must be closed within one year of the initial withdrawal.

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There is a $40,000 lifetime contribution limit and an $8,000 annual contribution limit starting in 2023. Unlike Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) or Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) contributions, unused annual contribution leeway cannot be carried over, meaning a single person who contribute less than $8,000 in any given year would still face an annual cap of $8,000 in subsequent years.

To provide greater flexibility, you can transfer funds from an FHSA to an RRSP or Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) on a tax-deferred basis. Transfers to an RRSP or RRIF are not taxable at the time of transfer, but amounts are taxed when withdrawn from the RRSP or RRIF in the usual way. Wire transfers do not affect the RRSP contribution margin in any way.

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If you have not used the money in your FHSA towards a qualifying first home purchase within 15 years of opening the FHSA, it must be closed and any unused savings can either be transferred to an RRSP or RRIF, or it can simply be withdrawn on a taxable basis.

You may also transfer tax-free money from an RRSP to an FHSA, subject to the $40,000 lifetime limits and $8,000 annual dues. It is expected that individuals will be able to open an FHSA and contribute sometime in 2023.

The government continues to be concerned about private individuals buying residential real estate with the intention of “turning it around” by selling it in a short period of time to make a profit. Under our tax laws, profits from real estate sales are fully taxable as business income. In other words, they are not eligible for the 50 percent capital gains withdrawal rate, nor for the primary residence exemption.

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In recent years, the Canada Revenue Agency has cracked down on the alleged abuse of the exemption, most recently with a letter-writing campaign, with the CRA sending letters to individuals “who may have incorrectly applied the Primary Residence Exemption (PRE)”.

The budget therefore proposed to introduce a new assumption rule effective January 1, 2023, to ensure that profits from upgrading residential real estate are always fully taxed. In particular, profits from the sale of residential real estate, including a rental property, owned for less than 12 months, would be considered business income.

However, the new assumption rule does not apply if the sale of the disposition is related to a life event, including death, addition of a family, divorce, personal safety, disability or illness, change of employment, insolvency or an involuntary disposition such as an expropriation.

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The government also proposes doubling the tax credit for first-time homebuyers to $10,000, worth $1,500 in non-refundable credits, and doubling the home accessibility tax credit for eligible home renovations to $20,000 (from $10,000) for change costs incurred by seniors or beneficiaries of the WAO to make their home more accessible.

It also plans to introduce a new multi-generational home renovation tax credit that would provide a 15 percent refundable credit toward eligible expenses (up to $50,000) made on a qualifying renovation that involves creating a second home. created to allow an eligible person (a senior or a person with disabilities) to live with a relative.

Medical expenses

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The budget expands the list of medical expenses eligible for the medical expense tax credit to include a variety of costs individuals may incur in becoming parents through surrogacy, sperm, egg or embryo donation.

Companies and charities

On the corporate side, the budget expanded the eligibility for the lower nine percent small business corporate tax rate on the first $500,000 in active business income by increasing the range of taxable capital over which the business limit is lowered, with the new range being $10 million to $500,000. 50 million (from $10 million to $15 million), allowing more medium-sized businesses to claim the lower rate.

Finally, as predicted, the government has halted the non-Canadian Controlled Private Company (CCPC) scheme that some taxpayers have used to avoid paying the extra refundable corporate tax they would otherwise pay on investment income earned in those companies. . It will also increase the charity payout quota to five percent (from 3.5 percent) effective 2023.

Jamie Golombek, CPA, CA, CFP, CLU, TEP is the General Manager, Tax & Estate Planning at CIBC Private Wealth in Toronto. Jamie.Golombek@cibc.com

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This post Federal Budget 2022: How Your Wallet Will Be Affected

was original published at “https://financialpost.com/personal-finance/taxes/jamie-golombek-heres-how-the-federal-budget-impacts-your-wallet”

Categories: Finance

Author: Frederick Sullivan

Hannah Sullivan: As a seasoned journalist, Hannah's blog provides hard-hitting analysis and in-depth reporting on major crime stories. Her thorough coverage and fearless reporting make her a trusted voice in the field.