Saturday 22 June 2013

Choose an Expert Toronto Tax Accountant to Help you with Tax Matters

No one can help you better than a Toronto tax accounting firm when it comes to tax assessments. With their help, the data related to taxes and other important details are present in an accurate and comprehensible manner. One can always gain from specific services such as tax consulting and there are plenty of established firms in Toronto offering their consulting experience. Picking one is a difficult job but one must always choose the firm with a reliable and experienced team.
The firms in Toronto which are specialized in tax accounting also deal with cross border accounting. For them, having more to offer means much more for you to gain. They can aid with financial statements, offer tax strategies for small businesses and deal with cross border accounting and taxes. They have the ability to joggle with so many branches, having at the same time the needed energy to provide strong financial support.
Consulting the experts is the best method you can use to get the best of tax preparation. The tax accountants in Toronto could be the best place to start. Toronto tax accountant know how to address financial information and use his/her decision-making skills towards achieving their goals. They deal with financial, management and tax accounting, the last one being mainly used for interested customers to follow tax regulations. Certified experts can help with financial statements and audit records, always ensuring that the main principles of accounting are respected.
Toronto tax accountant specializes in matters of tax. A person that works in this area may focus on aiding individuals, small businesses and or corporations. A tax accountant that specializes in business may also provide consultation services to assist with decisions that may impact income taxes.
These experts might operate as a sole proprietor or as part of a small or large accounting firm. Both a large and small accounting firm can provide identical services. However, large accounting firms can often be much more expensive. There are benefits to dealing with either, selecting the best fit for you is a personal choice.
However, finding the best tax consulting expert in Toronto can take some time and effort to qualify the one that is right for you. With a little effort you can find one who is reliable, competitively priced, and easy to communicate with and delivers the best results for your income tax return. When looking to hire a professional income tax preparation expert, you can talk to friends, family or colleagues and see who has the most impressive testimonials. Another option is to do an online search.

Choose an Estate Planning Expert to Help You with Real Estate Taxation

Real estate tax is also known as property tax and is the tax that government imposes on a property. The property tax is said to be influenced by only one factor and that is the value of the property. The higher the property value, the more tax you will have to pay for it.
The tax is levied by the governing authority of the jurisdiction in which the property is located; it may be paid to a national government, a federated state, a county/geographical region, or a municipality. Multiple jurisdictions may tax the same property.
There are four broad types of property: land, improvements to land (immovable man-made objects, such as buildings), personal property (movable man-made objects), and intangible property. Real property (also called real estate or realty) means the combination of land and improvements. Under a real estate taxation system, the government requires and/or performs an appraisal of the monetary value of each property, and tax is assessed in proportion to that value. Forms of property tax used vary among countries and jurisdictions.
Many provinces in Canada levy property tax on real estate based upon the current use and value of the land. This is the major source of revenue for most municipal governments in Canada. While real estate taxation levels vary among municipalities in a province there is usually common property assessment or valuation criteria laid out in provincial legislation. There is a trend to use a market value standard for valuation purposes in most provinces with varying revaluation cycles. A number of provinces have established an annual reassessment cycle where market activity warrants while others have longer periods between valuation periods.
It is not easy to keep tabs of the tax laws that are in use in a country and add the fact that there are changes in tax laws every year, it is not an option for a person to know every tax law that will influence him. One can be aware of the major taxation laws that are important and not get into the intricate laws that exist.
Real estate taxation can be a tricky thing to do and it is better to get the help of a good tax consultant who specializes in property taxes to ensure that you do not end up paying more than you ought to.
There are also a number of professional financial planners, who specialize in creating and managing the estate plans of their clients. Such finance advisors, also known as estate planning expert, need to be hired, in order to take wise and informed decisions regarding planning. These experts can also raise the value of estates to the largest extent possible, by lowering the required tax rates and cutting down on related estate expenses.
Experts in taxation are available to help you in tax planning and to help you in saving money by making you pay less taxes. But finding a good expert can be tricky. Research and find out the best real estate tax experts available closer to you, check on their reputation and consumer reviews and then shortlist a few of them. Then talk to the shortlisted experts and identify if anyone has experience in handling your type of taxation and then look at the fee charged by the expert. Consider all the options and take you time to select a good estate planning expert for you.

Friday 21 June 2013

An Overview of Income Tax and Corporate Tax System in Canada

Canadian income tax constitutes the majority of the annual revenues of the Government of Canada, and of the governments of the Provinces of Canada.

Canadian federal income taxes, both personal and corporate are levied under the provisions of the Income Tax Act. Provincial and territorial income taxes are levied under various provincial statutes.

The canadian income tax system is a self-assessment regime. Taxpayers assess their tax liability by filing a return with the CRA by the required filing deadline. CRA will then assess the return based on the return filed and on information it has obtained from employers and financial companies, correcting it for obvious errors. A taxpayer who disagrees with CRA's assessment of a particular return may appeal the assessment. The appeal process starts when a taxpayer formally objects to the CRA assessment. The objection must explain, in writing, the reasons for the appeal along with all the related facts. The objection is then reviewed by the appeals branch of CRA. An appealed assessment may be confirmed, vacated or varied by the CRA. If the assessment is confirmed or varied, the taxpayer may appeal the decision to the Tax Court of Canada and then to the Federal Court of Appeal.

Canada levies personal income tax on the worldwide income of individuals’ resident in Canada and on certain types of Canadian-source income earned by non-resident individuals. The amount of income tax that an individual must pay is based on the amount of their taxable income (income earned less allowed expenses) for the tax year. Personal income tax may be collected through various means:

• Deduction at source - where income tax is deducted directly from an individual's pay and sent to the CRA.

• Installment payments - where an individual must pay his or her estimated taxes during the year instead of waiting to settle up at the end of the year.

• Payment on filing - payments made with the income tax return

• Arrears payments - payments made after the return is filed

Canadian corporate tax includes taxes on corporate income in Canada and other taxes and levies paid by corporations to the various levels of government in Canada. These include capital and insurance premium taxes; payroll levies (e.g., employment insurance, Canada Pension Plan, Quebec Pension Plan and Workers' Compensation); property taxes; and indirect taxes, such as goods and services tax (GST), and sales and excise taxes, levied on business inputs.

Corporations are subject to tax in Canada on their worldwide income if they are resident in Canada for Canadian tax purposes. Corporations not resident in Canada are subject to Canadian income tax on certain types of Canadian source income.

Canadian corporate tax is collected by the CRA for all provinces and territories except Quebec and Alberta. Provinces and territories subject to a tax collection agreement must use the federal definition of "taxable income", i.e., they are not allowed to provide deductions in calculating taxable income. These provinces and territories may provide tax credits to companies; often in order to provide incentives for certain activities such as mining exploration, film production, and job creation.

In Canada, corporate income is subject to corporate income tax and, on distribution as dividends to individuals, personal income tax. To avoid this "double taxation" of the same income, the personal income tax system, through the gross-up and dividend tax credit (DTC) mechanisms, provides recognition for corporate taxes, based notional federal-provincial corporate tax rates, to taxable individual’s resident in Canada who receives dividends from Canadian corporations.

An Overview of Canadian Taxation of Non-Residents

There is always a provision in the income tax law books of most countries that any person who is working and living in a country and is not a resident of that country will have to pay non resident taxes. This is also the case if you live and work in Canada. Any non-resident who is living or working in Canada and who is not a resident of any place in Canada will have to pay non-resident tax according to the regulations and the norms that are printed in the non-resident taxation policy derived from the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA). If you are a person who is living in Canada and rendering your services for a Canadian company in Canada, then you should be aware of the rights, obligations and the entitlements that you need to face when you receive your work wages or income.

Generally, non-resident taxation is filed under Part I tax or Part XIII tax. If you receive income from dividends, rental payments, royalty payments, pension payments, management fee, retiring allowances, old age security pension, Canada Pension Plan, registered retirement savings or income plan payments or annuity payments then you will be taxed under Part XIII. If you are running a business in Canada or if you sell, transfer or plan to sell a Canadian property, then you will pay tax under Part I.

There are a lot of factors that are considered while determining the residency status of an individual in Canada. The most important factor is said to be the residential ties that the non-resident has in Canada or is in the process of establishing.

As per the Canadian law,

• One is deemed a non resident when he/she customarily or routinely live in another country and thus do not reside in Canada

• When you do not have residential ties with anyone in Canada and have stayed for less than 183 days in a tax year or lived outside the country for the major part of a tax year.

In such cases one usually becomes liable to pay non-resident taxes. It is important to find out all you can about the Canadian taxation of non-residents laws.

The nonresident taxation policy in Canada considered 15% tax deduction at the source to be a rough estimate of the nonresident tax liability of the person. If you are covered by treaty protection or can show that your expenses are bound to be more you can apply for a waiver or tax reduction request to the concerned department.

Non-resident taxation can be tough to deal and there are tax experts who will be aware of all the different tax laws that a country will have. This is why it is always better to opt for the services of a tax expert, especially if you are a non-resident and you are looking for non-resident tax planning. Find a reputed tax expert company and get their advice before you start any activity regarding nonresident tax planning.

All You Need to Know About Canadian Non-Resident Taxation Policies

As in many other countries, non-residents in Canada are also subjected to taxation and they will have to pay taxes for the income that they generate from sources that are within Canada. Canadian non-resident taxation rules apply to you if you are living and working in Canada and you are not a Canadian resident. It is ideal that if you are living or working in Canada as a nonresident, you should be aware of such taxation rules. Through the internet and online discussion forums, you will be able to gather a lot of information about the taxation laws in Canada on nonresidents. You can as well contact some of the experienced and reputed tax accountants in the area you live in Canada in order to get full information on the nonresident taxation laws. 

He or she will help you in computing the tax figures that you need to pay a tax to the Government of Canada.
There are a lot of factors that are considered while determining the residency status of an individual in Canada. The most important factor is said to be the residential ties that the non-resident has in Canada or is in the process of establishing. Canada also asks for tax to non-residents on certain source of income such as withholding tax on interest, dividends, royalties, etc. People who visit and stay in Canada longer than 6 months in the same year are considered to be a resident in Canada and subject for a tax fee base on their worldwide income.

The Canadian non-resident taxation policy considered 15% tax deduction at the source to be a rough estimate of the nonresident tax liability of the person. If you are covered by treaty protection or can show that your expenses are bound to be more you can apply for a waiver or tax reduction request to the concerned department. A waiver application will have to be filled and submitted to the tax services office that is responsible for tax related functions in the area that you provide services in. The application will have to be filed 30 days before receiving the first payment and no later than 30 days from the start of providing the services. If the required details are in order then the tax office will give you a waiver or deduction certificate that can be given to the employer.

It is very important to not take things for granted while filing the nonresident tax in Canada and if there is any ambiguity in the various clauses of the tax treaty that has been signed with your resident country, contact the International Tax Services Office for clarification. It will also be a good option to avail the services of tax experts to help you with your nonresident taxation procedures as they will have the knowledge of the exemptions that can be availed by you. It will also make the process a lot simpler with you not having to run around to get your income tax return filed properly.