Are you self employed?

Self-employed? You are different when it comes to tax deadlines and rules

As a self-employed person, there are key differences in when and how you should pay your taxes – and knowing those differences can bring some significant tax savings. Here is what you need to know.

Tax deadlines

 Most Canadians must file their personal tax return by April 30 -- yours is due on June 15.

Tax owing on the personal tax return must be paid by the April 30 deadline. If the return is not filed by June 15, interest and penalties will apply.

 Generally, if you qualify as ‘self-employed’ for tax purposes, you are required to pay taxes in instalments based on your reported income in the previous taxation year. The

Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will send you a notice with the amounts you have to pay. Instalment payments for 2010 are due March 15, June 15, September 15, and

December 15. If you don’t pay by the due dates, you may face instalment interest and penalties. You can pay by selecting one of three methods:

1. The schedule set out in the instalment payment notice you will receive from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
2. Last year’s tax payable.
3. The estimated tax payable for the current year.

Tax tips

You may qualify for these deductions:

 Home office – if you use your home office as your principal place of business, you may be able to claim a portion of your housing costs including rent (if you are a tenant), mortgage interest, property taxes, utilities and home insurance.

 Capital assets – the furniture and equipment acquired for your business can be written off gradually by claiming the capital cost allowance (CCA) each year.

 Business expenses – claim reasonable expenses related to earning your income.

 Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax – if you charge these taxes to your clients/customers and remit them to the Canada Revenue Agency, you’re entitled to

GST/HST refund on business purchases.

 Health and/or Dental Insurance Premiums – these may be deductible for you and your family and deducting them as a business expense usually delivers a better tax benefit

than claiming them as a medical expense. The reimbursement of medical and dental expenses would still be received tax-free!

New: Employment Insurance (EI) benefits

 Beginning in January 2011, self-employed Canadians have the option to access EI benefits in four categories – maternity, parental, sickness and compassionate care benefits. Twelve months of EI premiums must be made in order to qualify for any benefits but for the first year, if contributions start by April 2010, payments can start January 2011. Remember once in the program, premiums are required for life. The choice to participate in the EI program depends on your personal circumstances.

There are many other tax savings strategies available to self-employed persons. Your professional advisor can help you identify the ones that will work best for you – and make sure you save on interest and penalties by hitting all your tax deadlines.

John Scholl CLU,CGA, B. Mathematics,

Consultant - Investors Group Financial Services Inc. & Investors Group Insurances Services Inc.

Ellen is Hilarious Apple is not amused

Nothing is sadder than a manufacturer or professional who cannot take a little humour in their lives.

Ellen takes a shot at Apple iPhones, The iPhones fight back.

I equate this to the iLofts at Mystic Pointe, Want One? Give me a Call. Its OK to call me on your iPhone. Other phones are ok too!

People ask what I do... I show this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGrhUlFl_-k

FMTA Board Responds to Toronto Star Article

Two weeks ago, the FMTA board responded to an article in the Toronto Star where a landlord-group labelled pro-tenant measures related to the HST "unfair."

April 13, 2010

To The Editor
Toronto Star

Re: Landlords call Province's HST Measures Unfair

Landlords are playing a shell game with the facts to justify cutting back their maintenance costs and neglecting the needs of tenants in Toronto and across the Province.

Landlords are exaggerating the projected impact of the HST. Operating costs for a rental building in Toronto are less than 50% of rent charged as per the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs and thousands of rent increase applications. The biggest cost is Municipal taxes and that is not subject to the HST. Other significant costs are management and staff salaries also not subject to HST. Items purchased are subject to HST, but in reality, they are already subject to both Provincial and Federal Sales tax - so there is no real change there.

The only serious impact of the HST is on the cost of heat and hydro. It's important that the Province not include the HST on these essential home costs. Approximately 20-25% of Toronto's tenants will start incurring this cost on July 1 of this year. What the Government is doing will prevent landlords from taking an extra increase in 2011 based on the HST, and then benefiting from a higher guideline in 2012 partly based on HST inflation.

What landlords are conveniently not saying is that the 2010 guideline (2.1%) is about triple the rate of inflation. Property tax for multi-residential buildings will go up less than 1% in 2010 in Toronto. In fact, over 128,000 rental units have recently experienced a drop in taxes of more than 2.5%. A further study of guideline increases over the last 25 years will show that the guideline has almost always met or exceeded the rate of inflation. And how about just a few years ago where tens of thousands of tenants were given extra permanent rent increases for a temporary spike in gas costs.

Short memories can be useful for landlords, but not looking at the whole picture is misleading.

Sincerely,

Effie Vlachoyannacos
Vice-Chair
Federation Metro Tenants Associations

David Pylyp With respect I would like to add this further comment.

You are absolutely right! The Largest Landlord in the City of Toronto Is the City of Toronto! You are absolutely correct about the numbers related to costs to heat and hydro are being increased relative to actual costs and subject to inflation.

What you have neglected to include is the opportunity cost of a landlord to invest their money into a condominium unit(s) or a small landlord style multiplex where their property taxes are Market Value Assessment based. While the rents are controlled by market, interior trim and what a willing tenant will pay, the Landlord must decide if the return on their investment is worth the challenges faced by renting in todays business climate. If there is no profit why bother investing?

Would they be better off with the money in the bank, term deposit, GIC, invest in Gold, Mutual Funds, as when compared to restrictions, numerous limitations and decisions made by the Landlord Tenant Tribunal. The LTT still provides free legal advice to Tenants.

I recommend that my Landlord's Video or digital picture a property prior to a new occupant, provide a new set of keys, request that third party Tenant insurance be placed on the property with a loss endorsement to the Landlord and Condominium Corporation. This package of photo's video's rules and regulation plus keys and cards for building access are then provided to the tenant with their copy of the lease.

Your comments are invited.

If a dispute about condition is created there is no confusion or debate about documents, condition or cleanliness.

Being Top 1% in Toronto

So many agents embellish their accomplishments, Mine are very easy to see. Google the results of my marketing campaigns. Lets Google Search a Listing at 2504 Donnavale Drive in Mississauga that is available today. Try It! My job is to market your home, Not Market Me!

Each Property has a Google locational placement, so you can clearly see the adjacent neighbours map plus an addition stream of photo's that are unavailable on the TREB stratus system to upload greater than 9 pictures. Isn't it marvelous to actually see 40 pic's of a home that interest you. In addition there is a Youtube Video that provides the virtual tour.

If you would like to work with a seasoned realtor who is tech savvy, experienced, professional, persistent in getting things done, able to answer his own cell phone prior to the third ring, able to deal with client challenges, creative with integrity and a touch of panache; then give me a call and we can get together for a coffee.

I am available at 647 218 2414. You never want to have a Bad Romance.

Record Breaking Sales Continue in Toronto

My friend Doug Hannan just went thru the Toronto Real Estate Board statistics and it was another record month! Sales are still booming and the inventory levels are starting to rise a little bit. He has put some numbers together for you so you will have this information about 7 days before TREB releases it to the media.

In April there were 10,889 sales reported to TREB! That hits another record for April, so sales are chugging along quite nicely. As of yesterday there were 22,659 homes for sale. Inventory has jumped from 18,431 last month which is a 22% increase. This may seem like a huge jump, but it’s not uncommon between March and April. There are still plenty of sales to support the inventory level with the exception of certain areas and price ranges.

We are clearly experiencing one of the most interesting real estate markets ever. While other economies and marketplaces are suffering, Toronto just seems to be oblivious to it all. We should be thankful that we live in an area that has one of the strongest economies and real estate markets in the world.

We will likely experience this activity for quite a while yet and I’m anticipating there won’t be much of a slow down over the summer months.

The Harmonized Sales Tax still has an unknown impact on how sales will react. Stay Tuned. Need to reach me? david@davidpylyp.com 905 361 3387

Enjoy a little sunshine!