As part of the Canadian government’s efforts to combat money laundering, aggressive tax avoidance and tax evasion activities relating to trusts, enhanced income tax reporting requirements for certain trusts will be required for the 2021 and subsequent taxation years.  The new rules also contain harsh penalties for knowingly fail to comply with the new trust reporting requirements or non-compliance due to gross negligence…

On July 27, 2020, the Canada Revenue Agency (the “CRA”) announced a further extension to the tax payment and filing due dates for certain taxes from September 1, 2020 to September 30, 2020. The extension applies to current year individual, corporate, and trust tax returns, as well as instalment payments. Interest will not be charged on these amounts if payments are made by the extended deadline of September 30, 2020. Whether or not full payment is required in order to receive this relief is unclear.

The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (“CEWS”) legislation has been released and is now law. In general, the CEWS will reimburse eligible employers 75 per cent of the amount of remuneration paid to eligible employees (to a maximum benefit of $847 per week).

The legislation was prepared under less than ideal circumstances so it is not surprising that there are a number of questions and observations we hope the government will address. However, we can now provide more answers than in our April 7, 2020 Tax Tip.