These are some quick tax beaters that have been taken from the years form experience of many different accountants and taxation companies. They are not to be used by everyone please consult a professional accountant or tax specialist and get the details to all of the following tax beaters. These points are to be used as quick references, and not as actual interpretations of tax law! Hope these will be able to assist you in tax time.
1.
Save taxes by spending money on your business!
2. Write off 100% of your accounting and tax services, no matter if you’re a business or just a personal consultant or contractor
3. Prepare and revise business plans to support your Reasonable expectation of profit.
4. Report all legitimate business expenses even if you incur persistent losses
5. Record all business related expenses between startup and your first sale
6. Don’t spend money on your business before official startup
7. The general rule: all reasonable business related expenses are tax deductible
8. Know and follow the rules for self-employment
9.
Record all expenses to save tax dollars
10. Accurate records can help you prove your case to Canada Custom Revenue Agency
11. Even without a receipt you can still claim an expense
12. Where no description shows on a receipt, itemize the purchase yourself
13. Record your transaction weekly so you don’t forget a business expense
14. Use a double entry record keeping system to avoid costly mistakes
15. By timing purchases and sales at year-end, the cash method can save you tax
16. Speed up tax savings by choosing a December year-end when your business is losing money during the early years
17. Defer tax by staying with a non-December year-end if income is increasing
18. Save tax by changing to a December year-end if income from an established business is decreasing
19. Elect to include income in your first year of business to reduce income taxed at a at high rates
20. Elect to defer income that will be taxed in the current year at the highest tax rate
21. Maximize income in lower tax levels and minimize income in higher tax levels
22. Save significant tax dollars by legally allocating income among family members
23. Lend money to your spouse or minor child at a prescribed interest rate and save tax dollars
24. Invest money lent to children in capital gain producing assets and avoid attribution
25. Invest child tax benefit receipts in the name of your child and save tax dollars
26. Lending money to a family member to finance a small or home-based business is allowable income splitting
27.
Save as much as $3 700 per child per year by putting your
children on salary
28. File tax returns for your children and build RRSP contribution room
29. Pay a dependent parent a salary
30. If your income is in excess of $35 000 and your spouse is in a lower bracket, pay your spouse a salary
31. Salary for family member must be reasonable for services rendered
32. Apply to have your family member EI exempt
33. Apply for refunds of EI paid to family member for up to three prior years
34. If you do not already have employees, consider making your family members partners. This avoids costs and headaches involved in having a payroll.
35. Make spousal RRSP contributions to save taxes today and tomorrow
36. Hold off deducting your RRSP contribution in a year where your income is low and your expect next year’s income to be high
37. Claim business losses on your tax return to receive an immediate tax refund or reduce future tax liabilities
38. File your loss carry back election on time in order to get your refund
39. Apply a loss to the third prior taxation year before it is too late
40. Apply a loss over the past three years to minimize higher income levels
41. Carry losses forward if you next year’s income is expected to be high
42. Claim a reserve for income that has been received but return for services which have not been rendered or goods have not been shipped
43. Claim reserves on questionable receivables
44. Defer claiming CCA on fast write-off assets in low income years to get more dollar for your deduction
45. Use a corporation to smooth income from year to year and save tax
46. Declare bonuses at year end to defer tax
47. Highly successful small business entrepreneurs should consider using a corporation to defer up to $72 500 a year in taxes
48. Save time and money by choosing the proper business structure
49. To save money and avid hassles, develop a partnership agreement
50. Save taxes in start up year where you have losses by using the sole proprietorship or partnership structure
51. Defer up to 26% in taxes by using a corporation properly
52.
Save thousands of dollars by selling shares that qualify
for the $500 000 capital gains exemption
53. Crystallize your capital gains exemption on QSBC shares to ensure its tax benefits for the future
54. Include your family as shareholders and increase the tax savings on a sale
55. Save taxes by transferring a profitable business into a corporation and keep losing businesses as a sole proprietorship
56. Register for GST if you are selling zero-rated goods and services to obtain refund of GST on purchases
57. Register for GST and increase profits
58. Register for GST at start up and claim input tax credits on all your business purchases
59.
Reduce tax and simplify GST record-keeping by using the
“quick method”
60. Maximize your GST savings by claiming the 1% reduction
61. Remember to claim input tax credits on capital purchases when using the “quick method”
62. Claim forgotten input tax credits before the four-year limitation is up
63. Request GST information be included on purchase invoices to save money and hassles
64. Remember to include input tax credits on capital purchases used in your business
65. Request GST information be included on purchase invoices to save money and hassles
66. Claim ITCs (investment tax credits) on assets purchased prior to registering for GST and still being used in the business
67. Claim ITCs on services that were paid prior to registering but were used after registering
68. Claim ITCs on personal capital property used more than 50% of the time in your taxable business
69. Claim ITCs on general operating expenses for items used more than 10% of the time in a taxable business
70. Remit your GST on time and reduce the amount you pay
71. Remember to request a refund of the GST and PST on accounts receivable that you have written off
72. Remember to charge GST on the sale of used capital assets
73. Be careful to charge the HST on sales to participating provinces or else you may be paying the tax
74. File your tax return and pay any balance owing by April 30 to avoid being charged interest
75. Reduce he money you pay the government by paying and filing your tax return on time
76. Pay your tax installments as required to reduce your overall costs and increase profits
77. Follow the no calculation option when your income is stable or rising to minimize he amount of pre-paid tax
78. Increase your cash flow by electing to use alternative installments options
79. Use the current-year installment option in years of declining income to maximize cash flow and personal wealth
80. If you miss an installment payment, catch up your installments and prepay the next installment to reduce or eliminate the no-deductible installment interest charge
81. Properly withhold and remit payroll taxes on time
82. Increase cash flow and save time by electing to reduce your payroll remittance frequency
83. File employee information returns by the end of February to avoid significant penalties
84. Make a reasonable effort to obtain employee SINs or be charged a penalty
85. If required, submit contract payment information to CRA to avoid being assessed penalties
86. Reduce the sting of infractions by knowing which fines and penalties are tax deductible
87. Turn personal loans into business loans and deduct the interest for tax purposes
88.
Pay down personal loans before business loans to maximize
your tax deductible interest expense
89. Structure business loans to turn non-deductible insurance premiums into tax-deductible expenditures
90. Deduct your health and dental premiums in your business and save
91. Deduct one half of CPP contributions and save
92. Deduct 100% of meal costs at remote work sites
93. Maximize your meal expenses by keeping track of which meals are fully deductible
94. Keep detailed records supporting the business nature of trips to camps and lodges to ensure they can be tax deductible
95. Itemize cost of meals and beverages at golf courses to ensure deductibility
96. Consider non-cash gifts and award to save your employee’s some tax
97.
Don’t exceed the $500 cost limits or give near cash items
or else your employee will be faced with a tax bill on your gift
98. Maximize your tax savings on course fees by taking those courses that are fully deductible for income tax purposes
99. Review your employee training costs to ensure your staff are not paying too much tax
100. Know which conventions are tax deductible and attend accordingly
101. When advertising to the Canadian public, advertise with Canadian media to ensure your advertising dollars are tax deducible
102. Reduce taxes by not including your year-end inventory, obsolete or damaged goods
103. Provide for doubtful paying customers and defer tax dollars
104. If your home is not your principal place of business, designate n area in your home to be used solely for business purposes and conduct client meetings at home
105. If your home is your principal place of business maximize your tax deductions by designating an area in your home to be used exclusively for your business
106.
Maximize the home area used in your business or minimize the
area of your home