7 ways to help clients save tax

With the personal filing deadline less than a month away, it’s crunch time for tax filing, says KPMG. Here are some credits, benefits and deductions to ensure your clients are taking advantage of this year.

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For individuals:

• Moving expense deductions: Moving at least 40 km closer to a new home for work presents tax-saving deductions on the income your client earned at her new location; this may include moving outside of the country.
• Maximize medical expenses: Consider pooling together eligible medical expenses not only incurred by your client but also her spouse/partner and dependent children in order to fully utilize her medical expenses.
• Utilize tax credit transfers: Be sure to tell your client to claim any unused tuition/education, age, disability and dependent credits from her spouse and/or children to avoid losing their tax savings benefits.
• File your taxes early: The sooner your client files her taxes to receive your refund, the sooner it will be deposited into her bank account. Don’t file at the last minute. Even if she can’t pay her taxes, file them anyway – this will avoid any late filing penalties.

Read: Tax advice for the family

For small business owners:

• Maximize tax credits and deductions: Small businesses can take advantage of various industry specific tax credits, including the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) and the Manufacturing and Processing Profit (M&P) deduction. They may also claim Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) expenses, interactive digital media, co-op, and apprenticeship tax credits.
• Classify Capital Cost Allowance properly: It is critical for small business tax filers to classify their capital expenditures to the appropriate Capital Cost Allowance (CCA) pool in order to get the correct percentage tax deductions available.
• Review your tax structure and owner remuneration: Tax rules and business circumstances often change, and effective tax planning involving your current structure and methods of remuneration is a very important component to save or defer tax for a business owner. Business owners should consider their tax filings accordingly to increase their tax savings opportunities.

Read: 3 ways to reduce clients’ taxes

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.