November 2010 - The Bulletin Magazine

More documents

Recommendations

Info

WORRIED ABOUT POOR WATER QUALITY? BRING US A WATER SAMPLE FOR A FREE TEST BUILDING THIS YEAR? DON’T FORGET RADIANT FLOOR HEATING! OVER 50 YEARS in BUSINESS 20091 Woodbine Ave., Queensville, Ont. L0G 1R0 E-mail: contact@queensvilleantiquemall.com www.queensvilleantiquemall.com MOUNT ALBERT TAX COMPANY “The low cost provider of professional tax services” Ian Hawkins 905-478-4022 OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK 16,000 sq.ft. OF QUALITY ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES SPEND $25 OR MORE AND RECEIVE A BALLOT FOR A SHOPPING SPREE (some conditions apply) ACCOUNTING & INCOME TAX 905.473.6522 www.t42.ca PO Box 1028,19185 Centre Street, Unit 2 Mount Albert, ON L0G 1M0 (next to Post Office) 1.866.355.5759 • f. 289.803.0041• c. 416.528.9639 24 The Bulletin | NOVEMBER 2010 www.TheBulletinMagazine.com
Individuals or businesses are entitled to deduct from their income most expenses incurred for the purpose of earning that income. Some expenses, however, such as golf membership dues and green fees, for example, are disallowed completely. Other expenses are subject to limitations, such as the 50 per cent limitation on the deductibility of meals and entertainment expenses. The law Tax Tips Deductibility of Fines, Interest and Penalties by Ian Hawkins The 2004 federal budget included a measure prohibiting individuals and businesses from deducting fines or penalties from their income, even incurred solely for the purpose of earning income. As is often the case, this rule was introduced to overturn a case decided by the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC), specifically the decision in 65302 British Columbia Ltd. v. the Queen. In this case, the taxpayer was an eggproducer and was only able to produce and sell a certain number of eggs as designated by its quota from the egg marketing board in British Columbia. The company intentionally produced more eggs than it was allowed under its quota because it wanted to meet the demand of a significant customer. The B.C. marketing board imposed a fine of approximately $270,000, which the company paid and deducted as a cost of doing business - after all, the company had to pay tax on the additional profits from the sale of the "over-quota" eggs. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) objected to the deduction of this penalty arguing that in order for a penalty or fine to be tax deductible, the jurisprudence to date indicated that the penalty or fine must have been unavoidable and must not be against "public policy". The SCC disagreed and allowed the deduction of the fine, as it saw nothing in the Income Tax Act that distinguished the deductibility of a fine or penalty incurred to earn income from any other otherwise deductible business expense. Clearly the tax man, unhappy with this state of affairs, introduced this measure to eliminate it. As the government stated, "it is generally recognized that to allow a deduction for a fine or penalty that has been imposed in respect of a particular act or omission by a taxpayer, diminishes the disincentive to engage in that activity. Generally, therefore, such a deduction is contrary to overall public policy objectives". Interest and penalties Interest and penalties can be charged under the Income Tax Act for late-filing a tax return or late-payment of tax owing. If a taxpayer files his or her return after April 30 (or June 15 for the self-employed), there is a five per cent penalty on the amount of tax that was unpaid at the time the return was due plus an additional one per cent per month penalty on the amount due for each month the return is late (up to a maximum of 12 per cent). If this is the second time that the taxpayer has been late and he or she was previously charged a late-filing penalty in any of the prior three years, the late-filing penalties double to 10 per cent of the unpaid amount plus two per cent continued on next page www.TheBulletinMagazine.com NOVEMBER 2010 | The Bulletin 25
Page 1 and 2: www.TheBulletinMagazine.com THE Bul
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS IN EACH ISSUE 6 WHAT’S O
Page 5 and 6: East Gwillimbury Skating 2010/11: E
Page 7 and 8: celebrating our 120th anniversary,
Page 9 and 10: muscle from being torn off the bone
Page 11 and 12: DECEMBER EVENTS Saturday, December
Page 13 and 14: The Plan and How It Can be Funded W
Page 15 and 16: completed and containing some inter
Page 17 and 18: November 11th More Than Just One Da
Page 19 and 20: Remembering to say thanks (NC)—Wh
Page 21 and 22: Veterans' Week 2010, November 5 to
Page 23: I would advise to start planning as
Page 27 and 28: SNEEZE FACTS for SNIFFLING WORKERS
Page 29 and 30: Today, when the huge midway of Cana
Page 31 and 32: WHERE TO FIND US. You can pick up y
Page 33 and 34: e.g. athletes HOCKEY SEASON IN FULL
Page 35 and 36: TOP JOBS (from pg. 10) months, or a
Page 37 and 38: The Pet Nanny Need pet sitting serv
Page 40: MOTORCYCLE, ATV & SLED SALES & SERV

November 2010 - The Bulletin Magazine

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?