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Working From Home - Tax

https://www.advisor.ca/tax/tax-news/more-employees-will-be-asking-companies-for-home-office-expense-tax-forms-this-year/

" Employers will be extra busy this tax-filing season providing eligible employees with completed tax forms they’ll need to deduct home office expenses on their 2023 returns.  

The temporary “flat rate” method, which allowed Canadians working from home due to Covid to claim up to $400 in employment expenses in 2020 and up to $500 in 2021 and 2022, is not available for 2023. That method did not require the employee to get a form from their employer. 

Employees who worked from home in 2023 and who are eligible to claim home office expenses will have only one option — the “detailed” method, which will require a completed Form T2200: Declaration of Conditions of Employment from their employer. 

 

 

Form T2200: Declaration of Conditions of Employment

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/about-your-tax-return/tax-return/completing-a-tax-return/deductions-credits-expenses/line-22900-other-employment-expenses/work-space-home-expenses/frequently-asked-questions.html

 

https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/cra-arc/formspubs/pbg/t2200s/t2200s-fill-22e.pdf

Year 2023 form to be available near end of January 2024

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Blue Monday Tips

12347737269?profile=RESIZE_710xhttps://ivari.ca/maple/conquering-blue-monday-tips-to-brighten-your-mood-on-the-years-gloomiest-day/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ivari_info_jan_8

 

This morning I received a lovely email and one of the articles was about the Monday Blues. I forgot about this, I guess it happens to many people.

"Mondays typically aren’t fun for most people. The weekend is over, it’s the start of the work week with many emails to catch up on, and there are five days to go until you have two glorious days off again."

1st Tip 

How can I beat the winter blues this Blue Monday?

Just because Blue Monday is upon us, doesn’t mean you can’t combat it. Here’s what you can do to feel better when the winter blues roll around.

1. Surround yourself with those you love

Consider having dinner with your family or close friends, or just hanging out with your four-legged friend (Mercy loves to go with me for road trips). Being around your loved ones isn’t just a mood booster, it’s also a good distraction from the day itself.

 

Have a Delicous Good For you Maple Water Drink - my Favorite Option that is 

 

#SimplyRefreshing

 

Enjoy #CanadasNationalBeverage 

 

My favourite Tip, is to get a Maple Water beverage. Natures Energy Water , try our Maple Sap Beverage, Sparkling KiKi Maple Lemon, Cranberry, Blueberry or Strawberry  #SimplyRefreshing

 

WHY MAPLE WATER?
Maple water is the name that the industry decided to call Maple Sap. Maple Sap is the term for the liquid that comes from the tree. It is present in every tree and is utilized by the tree to move energy and nutrients between the roots to the leaves. During the freezing winter months the maple tree stores the sap in the roots. As the weather warms up in the spring the sap moves up to the branches to provide these nutrients to grow the new leaves.

Maple Water

Maple Water contains all the nutrients needed to keep a strong and tall sugar maple tree healthy!  With over 64 antioxidants, 80 nutrients, amino and organic acids, Maple Water beverages are an ideal source to restore your electrolytes and rehydrate.

The Iron, Zinc, Calcium, and Magnesium present in Maple Water are just some of the essential minerals your body needs to stay healthy. 

"Drink Healthy Stay Healthy!"©

 

This will pick you up and inspire you to be your best on Monday, enhancing your day ! 

 

Enjoy the benefits of Maple Water, get sold out, turn those cans upside down and make the best of Blue Monday's . If you want an extra boost, make Sparkling KiKi Maple Blueberry  your go to answer.  

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Tax Slips For 2023 Expectations

For 2023 tax reporting

These are typical reporting / mailing expectations for most items. 



2023 Tax Slip Target Mailing Date Deadlines

T4's by Feb 29, 2024

T5's  by Feb 29, 2024


2023 RRSP Remainder of Year (ROY) Contribution Slips (March to December 2023) , by January 29, 2024


1st 60-Days RRSP Contribution Receipts for trades placed January 1 to March 1, 2024 = by March 25, 2024


T4RSP, T4RIF, T4A, T5 and matching Releve’s (R2 & R3)  by February 5, 2024


T4A and Releve1 for advisors and distributors by February 5, 2024


NR4 (registered and non-registered) by  March 27, 2024


T3 (R16) for Segregated funds by March 27, 2024


RRSP first 60 days of 2024 contribution key dates:


January 1, 2024 to February 29, 2024 Contributions are accepted until end of day March 1, 2024, contributions after the cutoff date will not be accepted for the first 60 days.

 

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/payroll/completing-filing-information-returns/t4-information-employers/t4-slip.html

 

 

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Turmeric Tips

I started eating Turmeric in my morning smoothie, it's a bit spicy , as I learn about it's benefits I am glad I have added this to my diet. Along the journery I am learning how to grow this interesting plant. So turns out we are eating the right stuff, our package is organic, so it should be able to sprout, it's from Peru, I understand the original would be from India. Check in the comments for more updates and research. 

Cheers !

TLR

 

https://homesteadandchill.com/how-to-grow-turmeric/

 

How Does Turmeric Grow?

Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a perennial herb, closely related to ginger. That said, most all of these growing tips apply to ginger as well! Though ginger can be a little more finicky. Turmeric doesn’t have typical tiny “seeds” that you imagine for most plants. Instead, pieces of the root system called rhizomes are planted, which in turn produce above-ground foliage as well as more, larger rhizomes in the soil below. Those precious rhizomes are the very thing we after when growing turmeric! Each seed rhizome is often referred to as a “finger” – because when fresh turmeric is harvested, the cluster of rhizomes around a center node resembles a hand!

 

 

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2023 Year End Favourites

As a "New Dad" I like these strategies!

 

https://advisorstream.com/read/i-am-a-parent-and-an-entrepreneur-here-are-11-strategies-i-use-to-get-things-done-and-outsmart-guilt/?c=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJub2RlX2lkIjo2OTI0NCwicHJldmlldyI6dHJ1ZSwiY29tbV9pZCI6OTAzMzU2NCwiZGVzdF9pZCI6bnVsbCwicmVhZGVyX2lkIjpudWxsLCJwZXJzb25hX3ByZXZpZXciOmZhbHNlfQ.a6yTdv95PL2AJrdFJTfMxlCYqFGg2bAG-YYPxOHjyeI

 

As a "New Dad" I like these !

 

1. Identify your priorities clearly.
To start, you need to identify your priorities. Obviously, when everything is a priority , this is easier said than done.

To get started, follow these steps:

Organize your tasks into a list.
Put each task in a ranking order.
Realistically determine how much time each task will require.
Plan your day's priorities using a schedule.
In short, making decisions based on your priorities is much easier once you know what they are.

.......

Final words of advice.

No one is perfect, including me. There are times when I don't get it right as well. Despite that, I'm committed to finding a balance that works for both my family and me. It's possible for you too.

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Dental Red Tape Tax Tips Traps XXX TTT

More Red Tape for business to comply with because the government does not trust families with kids that apply for dental benefits.

If you do not comply you will face financial penalties. 

A new box on employer-offered dental benefits has been added to the T4 and T4A slips. Employers must declare annually the dental care insurance they offer to their employees.

Learn more: https://ow.ly/4j9e50Qe5IF

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/news/newsroom/tax-tips/tax-tips-2023/employers-pension-plan-administrators-changes-coming-t4-t4a-reporting.html

 

XXX XXX XXX

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/child-family-benefits/dental-benefit.html

The interim Canada Dental Benefit is intended to help lower dental costs for eligible families earning less than $90,000 per year. Parents and guardians may be eligible if they pay for dental care for a child under 12 years old who does not have access to a private dental insurance plan.

Dental costs fully paid by other programs
If an eligible child's dental costs are fully paid for by another government program with no direct cost to you, those services do not qualify for this benefit. Check your child's eligibility for other programs before you apply.

Depending on your adjusted family net income, a tax-free payment of $260, $390, or $650 is available for each eligible child. You can apply for a maximum of 2 payments per child.

Applications are open until June 30, 2024 for:

dental care received between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024
one additional payment if you meet the criteria
Benefit payments are administered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

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Not to be confused with a $50,000 tax refund 

 

Multigenerational Home Renovation Tax Credit

https://members.videotax.com/technical-interpretations/2023-0965171E5-mghrtc-newly-constructed-housing-unit

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/programs/about-canada-revenue-agency-cra/federal-government-budgets/budget-2022-plan-grow-economy-make-life-more-affordable/multigenerational-home-renovation-tax-credit.html


This Multigenerational Home Renovation Tax Credit came up in my feeds this afternoon.

Case A. 

Let's say we have a retired couple who just turned 65 and older, and they moved into their daughters and son-in laws house which they plan to renovate or receently renovated to accoumadate the newly minted "Granny Suite"  

 

Case B.  You have a son or daughter of another family member who has a disbaility and they are under 65,  they  may be eligible for Disability Tax Credit ( DTC) , if eligible, Dad  would be able to claim this credit should he do a reno to accomadte the son in their home. He also may be eligible to claim him even if the renovation is not undertaken yet and may in fact be eligible for prior yrs. We often recover taxes going back 10 yrs in such cases. Your grandson may also be eligible for a RDSP investment plan, there is excellent grants and bonds possible with this.

First step would be for dad or mom to get in touch with our office and speak with our Disability Tax Specialist to make a determination regarding DTC eligibility. For this service we currently charge a 25% recovery fee on what we get them back, if nothing, there is no charge. Hopefully we get you back 10 to 20 M. Our experts can go over those details when they talk.

Thanks
Tim

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Tax 2024 + Prior

Tax Tax Tax 

X X X 

Tax reflections and planning and implementation are always evolving and some of the basics stay pretty well the same.

It has been suggested by my friend Mark that I start a Tik Tok channel on T A X. , he sugested  lots of XXX in the titles apparently that gets more viewers attentions. Will see, we don't want our eyes poked out. 

In the meantime, let's start with this list 

https://www.advisor.ca/tax/tax-news/essential-tax-numbers-updated-for-2024/

 

Hot Hot Hot off the internet advisors site. 

Will add some more content and commentary  going forward. 

Tim's Tax Tips 

 

PS, maybe we should add some Traps  , lots of T's

T T T & T

 

 

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Charity Check List

Came across this check list from a recent newsletter that I subscribe to at Carters Law

 

https://www.carters.ca/pub/checklst/Charity-Checklist.pdf

 

It's packed with a great list, if your involved with a charity or non profit, it would be a wise investment of your time to check it out and share with your board. 

 

For non profits

Legal Risk Managmeent Checklist for Ontario-Baed Not-for-Profits - Nov 2023 (carters.ca)

https://www.carters.ca/pub/checklst/NFP-Checklist.pdf

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USA Politics Sand Box

Be careful where you dig...

I received this communication this morning, it's worth a read IMHO

US Political Conflict: The Odds of Smart Bipartisan Leadership Are Rising

As you know, I am concerned about what is now happening in the context of the Big Cycle trends in 1) debt and the value of money, 2) internal conflict over wealth and values that is manifest in dysfunctional political conflict (particularly in the US), 3) external conflict over who will have what powers in the new world order (particularly as manifest in conflict between the US and China), 4) acts of nature (particularly climate change), and 5) new technologies (particularly AI). I believe that we are at a juncture and that 2024 will be a pivotal year when we will either work well together to deal with these changes in a smart way—or we will go over the brink into a terrible period.

Re: the external US-China conflict issue, two weeks ago, I was pleased to see a small but very significant stepping back from the brink of war by the United States and China. For reasons that I will explain below, I am also seeing movements in US politics that are giving me reason to believe that having smart, bipartisan leadership is an increasing possibility, though it is still the dark horse scenario.

Background

The United States has become terribly split by big gaps in incomes, opportunities, and values that have led to political extremism that is reminiscent of the 1930-45 clashes between fascists and communists. This extremism has led to irreconcilable differences, dysfunctional government, and win-at-all-cost domestic power struggles that could lead to some sort of civil war. At the same time, the United States faces great challenges arising from 1) large and rapidly rising government debt that has led to the decreasing value of money (i.e., inflation), 2) great internal and political conflicts over how to deal with the large income, opportunity, and values gaps, 3) external conflicts over how the new world order should work, 4) costly and damaging climate changes, and 5) revolutionary changes in technologies that can either help or hurt us. All these challenges need to be well managed. For these reasons, I believe that next year's US elections will be the most important in our lifetimes because their results will lead to either a) dysfunctional fighting that will take us over the edge or b) smart bipartisan leadership that will manage these challenges capably.

The Future

As I see it: 

1) There is only one path to successful leadership in the United States and that is for there to be strong, smart, bipartisan leadership that works against the extremists to pull the country together and make major reforms to the system so that it works well for most Americans.  

2) If we don't get that, there is an uncomfortably high chance of some type of civil war with the extremists fighting and the moderates getting caught in the crossfire. 

3) If either Donald Trump or Joe Biden is elected, it will be bad for the country because it will not give us the smart, bipartisan leadership that we need as the majority of Americans don’t want either of them as president. It is also clear from the polling that a majority don't want extremism.  

4) The betting odds now strongly favor one of them being elected, though which of the two is anyone’s guess. In either case, I believe the election of either will sustain the extreme irreconcilable polarity that will lead to dysfunctional leadership and bad outcomes. 

However, it now appears to me that there is an emerging dark horse possibility that my “dream scenario” could come to pass. To be clear, for my dream scenario to come true, there would have to be smart, bipartisan leadership on both sides controlling their parties so that they operate in smart bipartisan ways. So, rather than rooting for any one candidate or any one side, I am rooting for smart bipartisanship on both sides.  

Here is why I think the odds of this are improving. For it to happen, a few elements have to come together:

The Republicans Replacing Trump with a Strong Candidate Who Can Work across Party Lines 

The senior Republicans who quietly pray that Trump won’t be the nominee and the candidates who are running against Trump have agreed that all the primary candidates except the leading one should drop out early — either after Iowa and New Hampshire or, maybe, after South Carolina — so that Super Tuesday and beyond will be a head-on fight. A lot of money is already being gathered to put behind the Trump alternative once he or she emerges. Then, the real primary race will begin.  

While, to be clear, I am not endorsing anyone, I believe that Nikki Haley is the most likely contender and I believe she fits the bill because she is very smart, very practical, has a great moral compass, and can work well across party lines. She also has a practical understanding of world affairs and domestic economic affairs gained by being the US ambassador to the UN and by creating economic development programs as governor of South Carolina. If she defeats Trump for the nomination, Goliath will have fallen, and everything will have changed.  

The Democrats Replacing Biden with a Strong Candidate Who Can Work across Party Lines

This is a rising, but still very unlikely possibility. It is a rising possibility because on the Democratic side there is a growing realization that Biden could easily lose against a non-Trump candidate like Nikki Haley (and, possibly, to Trump, as well) and that he is probably too old to be up to the challenges of another term. It’s also clear that the electorate would rather pick his successor than have Kamala Harris, whose favorability is worse than Biden’s, replace him. Also, his policies related to debt, inflation, and foreign affairs have created dissatisfaction. So, the conversations about replacing Biden, though not advanced, are now happening. It remains a long shot possibility because Biden doesn’t want to step down and it’s late in the game to make such a change, but this very longshot possibility is emerging. Because of that, there are already five contenders who are jockeying for position, one or two who would fit the bill of being reasonably smart, practical, and inclined to work well across party lines. Also, the Democrats have a smart, strong, and bipartisan House minority leader in Hakeem Jeffries who will almost certainly be on the other side of the Republican team in one way or another. For these reasons, the possibility of both Republicans and Democrats fielding smart teams that can work well across party lines and against the extremists doesn’t look so remote. 

The Emergence of Independent or Third-Party Candidates 

There will be independent or third-party candidates that will seek to attract and empower those in the middle. While it’s unlikely that any of them will get elected because of how politics and the electoral system work, they can gain great power by influencing the outcome by gathering a lot of voter support and using it to influence what will happen. For example, they can a) suggest to those who support them that they vote for the more bipartisan of the other candidates, b) support bipartisan candidates in house and senate races, and c) support the development of a voting block of bipartisan moderates in both houses of Congress. This is the perfect time for a political force that supports a strong middle to emerge.

So, in conclusion, while the odds are still in favor of a Trump-Biden rematch, I believe there is now a significant rising possibility that we will get the sort of smart bipartisan leadership that is needed and that most Americans want. I will be watching closely to see if and how my dream, dark horse possibility plays out, most importantly in the primaries. If it goes the way I hope, the new leadership will be able to deal smartly with the debt/money/economy problems and the productivity/income-gap economic problems by making reforms so that the system works well for most Americans. If, additionally, the US-China rivalry continues to go down the peaceful coexistence through competition path rather than the hot war path, then we won’t go over any of these three brinks and the world will be a better place.

I hope that you will join me in rooting for and, perhaps, even working for these dark horse scenarios.  

Know someone who might be interested in this newsletter? Share it with them.
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One Tree Planted

One of our ESG initiatives at Natures Energy Water Corporation (NEWC) and Brock Shores Financial is to plant trees. Today NEWC invested in planting an additional 127 trees in Ontario on behalf of our beverage brands Sparkling KiKi Maple Lemon, Cranberry, Blueberry, and Strawberry. These beverages are made from 100% Pure Canadian Maple Sap. I invite you to check out one of the organizations that we have discovered and partnered with to do this for us. Here is a link for a gift to plant a free tree of your own.

Cheers ! Tim Ross , Chief Weekend Warrior NEWC

 

"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now." - Chinese Proverb 

 

Plant your free tree at link below

http://onetreeplanted.refr.cc/timothyross

http://onetreeplanted.refr.cc/timothyross

 
One of our local amazing advocates and retailers in Merrickville, Ontario

12290417680?profile=RESIZE_710x 

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#KitchenMoments

Do to the social requirements of Facebook paying the government money every time an article is posted on their site and their decision not to do that, since they have banned all news, it's kinda put the end to many recipes for my Facebook page Kitchen Moments, https://www.facebook.com/NewKitchenMoments so this will be the work around and file central till the regime changes or the policy changes. 

will start with this one

12288023072?profile=RESIZE_710x
https://www.theepochtimes.com/bright/a-simple-budget-friendly-meal-the-whole-family-will-love-5525306

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