Taxes

You might expect a tax professional like myself to defend the annual ritual of filing tax returns, but I don’t because it has become a necessary evil that serves almost no one well, especially with the shortage of accountants and increased complexity. Most would rather visit the dentist than complete their tax return. Adam Smith, […]

New anti-flipping rules for residential real estate (including rental properties) that came into effect in 2023 were designed to “reduce speculative demand in the marketplace and help to cool excessive price growth.” The rules essentially prevent you from claiming the principal residence exemption (PRE) to shelter the capital gain realized on the sale of your

Tax season officially ended on April 30, which was the general deadline for most Canadians to file their 2025 personal tax returns. (Those with self-employment income, and their spouse or partner, have until June 15 to file.) For the most part, it was smooth sailing, and the 2026 filing season didn’t pose any extraordinary hiccups

Former Citicorp Inc. chief executive Walter Wriston once said “ capital goes where it’s welcome and stays where it’s well treated.” The line has become tax-policy wallpaper. It is, nevertheless, the most useful sentence for thinking about what is unfolding in some jurisdictions, including certain states south of the border. In late April, the SEIU

Guy Lafleur, who passed away in 2022, was my childhood hero. Watching the Flower fly down the wing for the Montreal Canadiens — that mane of blond hair, the goals that made you leap off the couch — was as close to magic as a kid in Alberta could get. Rest easy, No. 10. He

I was standing in the Cathédrale Saint-Vincent in St. Malo, France, with my 82-year-old French mother and sister on the day the federal government’s spring economic update was released. The plaque over the tomb of Jacques Cartier there, in translation, reads: “Here rests Jacques Cartier, native of Saint-Malo and the first discoverer of Canada, who

A friend reached out to me this week in a panic. She was about to file her 2025 tax return and owed $140,000 in tax, but that wasn’t the source of her concern. It turns out she had sold an income property in 2025, realized a significant capital gain and the tax on that gain

As a young boy, I would watch my mom diligently read the newspapers and the flyers that came with them. She would cut out coupons and tuck them away for the next trip to the store. Today, newspaper coupons have been replaced by a flood of digital ones: app notifications, email blasts, loyalty offers and

The latest stats from Canada Revenue Agency ’s tax filing season tracker show that as of April 12, 16.1 million taxpayers have filed, meaning about half of us have yet to file our 2025 tax return — including me. But I’m not panicking, as I always wait until the last minute to make sure I

In the past month, two warnings concerning the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the world of Canadian personal tax have been issued. The first, was a general warning to Canadian taxpayers courtesy of the Canada Revenue Agency , while the second was a reminder from a federal court judge about the use of AI

Of the numerous non-refundable credits on the 2025 tax return, one of the most valuable ones is the disability tax credit (DTC). The DTC is a non-refundable tax credit that is intended to recognize the impact of various non-itemizable, disability-related costs. For 2025, the value of the federal credit was 14.5 per cent of $10,138,

Canadians continue to run into trouble with their tax-free savings accounts ( TFSAs ), as evidenced by the steady flow of e-mails I get from readers complaining about being charged overcontribution tax by the Canada Revenue Agency for situations often beyond their control. For example, just this week, a reader wrote to me about the

I used to impose what my kids jokingly called the “Dad tax” when they were younger. If we went out for dinner and they ordered something that looked particularly appealing, I would demand a small sample as my tax for paying the bill. Over time, they figured out how to avoid the tax by ordering

Tax season is in full swing, and we know you have questions. That’s why our expert tax columnist, CIBC’s Jamie Golombek , is answering Financial Post readers’ questions during this live chat, hosted by FP’s Larysa Harapyn. Leave your questions in the comments below (they won’t show up as we are moderating them) or email

I was frustrated a number of years ago when I was leading our firm. We were very busy, we had too many “good ideas” and our capital — financial and human — was spread thin across too many projects. Output wasn’t matching effort. But our productivity improved almost immediately when we cut the noise and

As you start to organize your tax slips, receipts and other tax information to begin preparing your 2025 personal tax return , you’ll want to ensure you have all the details of any foreign property you held last year. The prompt to report ownership of foreign property appears right on page two of the 2025