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.

The Federal government recently announced a number of measures to assist Canadians during the current COVID-19 crisis.  Two measures were introduced to assist businesses with retaining, rather than laying off, employees.

The 10% Temporary Wage Subsidy (“TWS”) is a three- measure that will allow eligible employers to reduce the amount of payroll deductions required to be remitted to the Canada Revenue Agency (the “CRA”).  The subsidy is 10% of remuneration paid by eligible employers (from March 18, 2020 to June 19, 2020) of up to $1,375 per employee, and a maximum of $25,000 per employer.  Given its limited value, Canadians were disappointed with this support program.