Government is a strange beast when it comes to taxes. It provides preferential rates on income from dividends, capital gains or even a qualified farm property lifetime capital gains exemption but if you take advantage of these routes to calculating your taxes, government reserves the right to charge you more taxes just because it can. […] Read more

Although the North American Free Trade Agreement is all over the news and the somewhat rocky nature of our relationship with our largest trading partner receives much attention, Canada’s relationship with Pacific Rim countries has opened new doors for the Canadian agriculture sector. With the somewhat awkward title of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for […] Read more

Farming is frequently exposed to unpredictable acts of nature, which will often affect your financial income in the current year and future ones. Drought and flooding are two such conditions that might force you to sell part of your breeding herd, sometimes at less-than-ideal prices. To help mitigate those losses, the federal government offers a […] Read more

Certain Canadians may be in for a very expensive tax bill if they don’t act before the Dec. 31 deadline. If you reached the wonderful age of 71 in 2018 and still have funds on deposit in an RRSP, the federal government requires you to wind it up by the end of your 71st year. […] Read more

The North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations appear to be moving at a snail’s pace and protection of Canada’s supply-management system for dairy and poultry, which is particularly important to many in the farming community, hasn’t yet played a major part in the talks. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland has consistently said Canada will continue […] Read more

The Canadian Income Tax Act turned 100 last year and Canadians can be excused if they didn’t celebrate. Since its introduction in Canada in 1917, it has become a much more complex document and has grown to more than 2,000 pages in length. In 2017, the government signaled its intention to change the tax rules […] Read more

Tax season may be galloping toward us but the Fraser Institute’s Tax Freedom Day in Canada is being pushed further and further out. In 2016, it was pegged at June 7. In 2017, it was June 9 and we wouldn’t bet against an even later date in 2018. In fact, if federal deficits were funded […] Read more

In a previous article, we explained the basic nature of Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies and how they work. In the interim, the cryptocurrencies have continued to exhibit substantial volatility, which should indicate this is not an investment path for the faint of heart. There have been some new developments, however, that indicate it might be moving […] Read more

The wild Bitcoin ride continues but is it taxable? The short answer to the taxation question is yes, and in several different ways, but essentially Canada treats Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a commodity and not a government-issued currency. Its use is considered a barter transaction and is taxed accordingly. Transactions using a cryptocurrency are […] Read more