Posts Tagged: Canada Revenue Agency

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14
May 12

Victoria Day: Hail to the Queen!

By Spencer Yarnell, Head of Spreading the Herd Word

Cheers to the ole gal! She’s great ain’t she?

As you know the Victoria Day long weekend is fast approaching and this member of the IBEX Herd is looking to celebrate in style. Be that a lounging barbeque, an escape to the lake or all these things with the companionship of beverages.

But why do we celebrate? Besides the fact that this is one of the first long weekends where we can celebrate outside without being swaddled in pounds of coats and sweaters, it’s also a tip of the hat to Queen Victoria herself whose birthday was May 24th. Back in good ole 1901 when Queen Victoria passed, the British Empire declared by royal decree that May 24th be Empire Day – which in Canada came to be known as Victoria Day. The actual day of the holiday wasn’t set (there were a lot of royal decrees, tiresome stuff really) until 1953 when it became the first Monday before May 25th.

Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria photographed by Alexander Bassano (1882)

Victoria Day is a nationwide banking holiday which means all Monday payrolls will be moved to Friday, May 18th and as a consequence we ask that all input and numbers be in by Wednesday, May 16th to prevent finger wagging. Here at IBEX, we take our Queens and our holidays quite seriously, so you should know that our office will be closed on Monday, May 21st to allow the Herd some sober ruminations on the effects and consequences of monarchy. We’ll be back on Tuesday May 22nd at 8 AM.

The IBEX Herd won’t be alone in absconding from work seeing as most stores and retail in Manitoba will be closed since Victoria Day is a general holiday. That means you can all join us in the fun!

In Manitoba, workers who do work Victoria Day are entitled to 1.5 times their regular pay in addition to 5% of their earnings in the 28 days leading up to Victoria Day, not a bad gig. Businesses who are closed on the holiday must still pay employees 5% of all their earnings in the last 28 days prior.

Since provinces are all different and can hardly agree on anything, here are some links to learn more about Victoria Day legislation across the country:

Alberta

British Columbia (pdf)

Manitoba

Ontario

P.E.I.

Quebec (they call it National Patriot’s Day)

New Brunswick

Nova Scotia

Newfoundland

Northwest Territories

Saskatchewan

Yukon (pdf)

Well this Herd member is getting antsy just thinking about the beach. What are you doing for Victoria Day? What does Victoria Day mean to you? Comment below and I may just bring you into another blog posting!

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18
Nov 11

Changes to the Canada Pension Plan: 60 – 70 years old? You’re not done paying yet!

by Alpine Crew Staff Writer

Between 2011 and 2016, the Government of Canada has plans to make gradual changes to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). These changes are supposed to reflect the needs of an aging population and the evolving Canadian work environment. The following are some of the changes that will be taking place in 2012.

Canada Revenue Agency formally announced earlier this month that there will be a new ceiling cap on the maximum amount of pensionable earnings in 2012. The 2011 cap is at $48,300 and will be going up to $50,100 in the new year. This new cap was calculated using a CPP legislated formula that takes into account the average weekly wages and salary of every working individual in Canada. With minimum wage on the rise, an increase here was expected.

While the employee and employer contribution rates will be staying the same (4.95%), as well as the self-employed contribution rate (9.9%), the maximum employee and employer/self-employed contribution to the plan will be changing. In 2012, the maximum contribution to the CPP by employee/employer will increase to $2,306.70 from $2,217.60. The maximum contribution to the CPP will also increase for the self-employed, increasing to $4,613.40 from $4,435.20.

Perhaps the biggest change being implemented on the Canada Pension Plan will be the one that directly affects those who are 60-70 years of age.

At present, CPP rules state that an employer simply stops deducting CPP premiums from their employee when the employee reaches the age range of 60-70, and also provides the employer with proof that they are receiving their retirement pension (this proof is usually in the form of a award-like letter from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada).

Starting January 1, 2012, that will change.

The new rules state that if an employee is in the age range from 60-70, working, and receiving their retirement pension, he or she must contribute to the Canada Pension Plan. This means that if you are presently in your 60′s, collecting your retirement pension, continuing to work, and are no longer making payments to the CPP (and maybe you haven’t been for a few years now) – you will be making those payments once again in January 2012.

However, along with that new rule, if you are 65-70 years of age, you have the option to opt out of contributing to the plan by filing an election to cease your CPP payments (Groan. We know. More paperwork). When an employee reaches the age of 70, it is then that the CPP will automatically stop taking “contributions”.

Our advice to you, is that if you are 65-70 years old, still working, collecting your pension, and not wanting to contribute to the Canada Pension Plan – get on filling out the election form no later than December 2011. The forms take a month to come into effect, so if you wait until January 2012 to apply, you won’t be able to cease your payments to the CPP until February 1st, 2012.

Want to learn more about the changes effecting the Canada Pension Plan? Visit the Canada Revenue Agency website to learn more.

How do you feel about the changes being made to the Canada Pension Plan? Let us know, and follow us on Twitter for more updates!

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25
Oct 11

Paying Employees “Under the Table”

When it Rains, it Pours

By Raissa Sagun, IBEX Staff

An Alberta entrepreneur owned 12 different franchises from two different franchise chains. When he bought his first franchise, times were tough and he decided to pay some of his staff “under the table.” As he continued to acquire more franchise locations, he continued to pay some of his employees at his original location under the table but put all new employees on the company payroll.

When a large U.S. competitor opened a flagship Canadian operation right down the street from his operation, within a year his operation was in trouble; the franchisor decided to take back control of his franchise. Rather than being a major relief for the entrepreneur, it turned out to be a major problem.

Within a couple of weeks the franchisor wanted all employees at the original location transferred to the corporate payroll. This transfer included completing T4s for all employees and creating Record of Employment forms for those employees being laid off. Naturally, creating the forms for his under the table employees was not possible and there were enormous consequences.

The entrepreneur was required to pay the Canada Revenue Agency all the past EI, tax and CPP contributions that should have been deducted from the employees along with the employer portions he was responsible for. The event also triggered an audit of his entire operation by CRA, which did confirm his other locations were above board, but took a huge amount of his energy at a very bad time. To make matters even worse, the entrepreneur has not been allowed to purchase any more franchises from the franchisor because of his mis-management.  Paying under the table is just not worth it!

note: certain elements of this story have been changed to protect the guilty