- Guidance from the Government of Canada on the new CPP regime, with a specific focus on the age to start your CPP retirement pension is now available. The website provides commentary on changes commencing in 2019, estimating future receipts, and determining past contributions. It also contains an explanatory video and links to the Canadian Retirement Income Calculator. For more information, see https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/campaigns/cpp-choice.html.
- Interest rates on Canada Student Loans and Canada Apprentice Loans will be lowered starting in 2019-20. The floating rate will be reduced to prime (from prime plus 2.5%), and the fixed rate will be reduced to prime plus 2% (from prime plus 5%). Also, the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act will be amended so that student loans will not accumulate any interest during the six-month grace period after a student leaves school, during which repayments are not required.
- Resolving objections with CRA can take a long time! For example, formal income tax objections resolved in April that were considered “medium complexity” (which includes many that we deal with) were completed by CRA in an average of 224 days from the date the objection was submitted.
The preceding information is for educational purposes only. As it is impossible to include all situations, circumstances and exceptions in a newsletter such as this, a further review should be done by a qualified professional.
No individual or organization involved in either the preparation or distribution of this letter accepts any contractual, tortious, or any other form of liability for its contents or for any consequences arising from its use.