Month: January 2019

2019 Automobile Deduction Limits and Expense Benefit Rates

Most of the Automobile Deduction Limits and Expense Benefit Rates that applied in 2018 will continue to apply in 2019. With two changes taking effect as of 2019:

The limit on the deduction of tax-exempt allowances

These are tax-exempt allowance paid by employers to employees who use their personal vehicle for business purposes. 2019 the rate will be increased by 3 cents to 58 cents per kilometre for the first 5,000 kilometres driven. In excess of 5000 kilometers 52 cents will be used. 

Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon, the tax-exempt allowance is 4 cents higher. For 2019, 62 cents per kilometre for the first 5,000 kilometres driven. In excess of 5000 kilometers 56 cents will be used.

These allowances are intended to reflect the main costs of owning and operating an automobile. Operating costs include depreciation, financing, insurance, maintenance, and fuel.

General Prescribed Taxable Benefit Rate


The general prescribed rate that is used to determine the taxable benefit of employees relating to the personal portion of automobile operating expenses paid by their employers will be increased by 2 cents to 28 cents per kilometre.

For taxpayers who are employed principally in selling or leasing automobiles the prescribed rate will be increased by 2 cents to 25 cents per kilometre.

The amount of this benefit is intended to reflect the costs of operating an automobile. The additional benefit of having an employer-provided vehicle available for personal use (i.e., the automobile standby charge) is calculated separately based on capital costs and is also included in the employee’s income.

The following limits from 2018 will remain in place for 2019:

  • Ceiling on the capital cost of passenger vehicles for capital cost allowance (CCA) purposes will remain at $30,000. The ceiling is before applicable federal and provincial-territorial sales taxes for purchases after 2018.  This ceiling restricts the cost of a vehicle on which CCA may be claimed for business purposes.
  • Maximum allowable interest deduction for amounts borrowed to purchase an automobile will remain at $300 per month.
  • Limit on deductible leasing costs will remain at $800 per month. Plus applicable federal and provincial-territorial sales taxes for leases entered into after 2018.  This limit is one of two restrictions on the deduction of automobile lease payments.  A separate restriction prorates deductible lease costs where the value of the vehicle exceeds the capital cost ceiling.

About Expert Fiscaliste

Expert Fiscaliste provides Canadian and international income tax preparation and consulting services to individuals, businesses, and trusts. If use a automobile for business for business you maybe interested in our services call us at 514-954-9031, or visit our Contact Tax Experts page.

Canada Child Benefit increased

Canada Child Benefit increased two years ahead of schedule

Quick facts

Across Canada, CCB payments worth $23.7 billion benefit nearly 3.7 million Canadian families.

Over 870,000 families in Quebec received nearly $5.5 billion from the CCB in the 2017–18 benefit year.

The CCB has helped lift more than half a million people—including 300,000 children—out of poverty.

The CCB will now have a maximum annual benefit of $6,496 per child under age 6 and $5,481 per child aged 6 through 17 years.

Examples:

For a single parent earning $35,000 with two children, the accelerated indexation of the CCB will contribute nearly $600 towards the increasing costs of raising their children for the 2019–20 benefit year.

A single working parent who has two children (one child under 6 and one child aged 6–17) and who earns $30,000 a year receives almost $12,000 in benefits for the 2018–19 benefit year. This is about $3,000 more than they would have received under the previous system of child benefits.

About Expert Fiscaliste

Expert Fiscaliste provides Canadian and international income tax preparation and consulting services to individuals, businesses, and trusts. If you are interested in our services call us at 514-954-9031, or visit our Contact Tax Experts page.

Business Portal Benefits

Digital Drives Satisfaction

Portal Usage Helps Drive Client Satisfaction

The digital age has conditioned clients to expect more instant gratification. Offering clients on-demand access to their own files via a business portal provide many benefits to our clients.

Studies show that satisfied clients are twice as likely to have the capability to share data with their firm using a self‑service business portal.  

Secure Business Portal

The Expert Fiscaliste Business portal is a secure access point for better management of your tax documents. Built to ensure client confidentiality with first class encryption security.

Business Portals Support Client Experience

Communication and Collaboration

Expert Fiscaliste Business Portal Benefits clients by offering the on-demand service clients come to expect from their online interactions. Portals that are also accessible via a mobile app make Expert Fiscaliste even more responsive. Now, clients can request a file when it is convenient for them and it now doesn’t even have to be done during office hours. Clients can now sending a copy of a receipt or document is as simple as taking a photo.

Collecting Source Documents

One of the most common causes of delays in accounting firms are collecting source documents. Clients have a lot of different documents, and now our Business Portal Benefits clients by being able to uploading documents to the portal to save a lot of time, speed up the tax preparation process, and even save you money.

Delivering Final Documents

On the other end of the engagement, business portals are a great way to deliver completed documents. Clients can benefit by signing and uploading signed authorizations and Expert Fiscaliste can EFILE the final tax returns. Eliminating the delivery of paper documents and the supplies associated with them reduces costs by up to 30% and benefits the environment.

Expert Fiscaliste Portal

Expert Fiscaliste Portal

The reasons for using Expert Fiscaliste’s client portal are clear, if you would like more information click on the links below

Expert Fiscaliste Portal

Motor Vehicle – Trip log

When any vehicle is used for both business and pleasure purposes, it is important to keep a Motor Vehicle – Trip log to identify the business use of each vehicle.

Trip Log

Motor Vehicle - Trip log
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When any vehicle is used for both business and pleasure purposes, it is important to keep a Motor Vehicle – Trip log to identify the business use of each vehicle.

All government agencies including the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) , Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), and Revenu Quebec (MRQ)  state that keeping an accurate logbook of business travel maintained for an entire year is the best evidence you can have to support your motor vehicle expense claims.

A separate Motor Vehicle – Trip log should be kept for each vehicle which is driven for both business and personal use. 

For the self-employed only the business portion of vehicle expenses can be deducted from income. GST/HST input tax credits are also related to the business use of a vehicle.  For businesses which provide vehicles to employees trip logs substantiate the business use of a vehicle. Businesses must calculate the taxable benefit to employees based on the personal use of the vehicle.

Trip log records

The Motor Vehicle – Trip log should record the date of each business trip, destination, reason for the trip, and the kilometres driven.  The odometer reading of the vehicle must also be recorded, at the beginning and end of each year, to determine the total kilometres driven in the fiscal period.

If you buy, sell or trade your vehicle during the year, be sure to record the odometer reading at that time

Quebec Supporting Documents for Vehicle Mileage

Motor Vehicle - Trip log
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Revenu Quebec’s Keeping Business Records information, supporting documents that must be retained regarding automobile mileage include:

a statement of kilometres travelled for each vehicle used in part for business and in part for personal purposes documents substantiating trips.

Quebec’s Logbook article also discusses the use of a simplified logbook for individuals in business.

Revenu Quebec’s Logbook information an employee who makes use of an employer’s automobile must keep a detailed logbook. This logbook details of the trips made with the automobile.

Employees must provide their employer a copy of the logbook:

  1. No later than January 10 of the year that follows the year
  2. The 10th day following the day on which the automobile is returned to the employer

Business Use vs Personal Use of a Vehicle

Canada Revenue Agency’s Logbook is similar to Revenu Quebec and also discusses the use of a simplified logbook for individuals in business.

(i) Employees

Motor Vehicle - Trip log
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If an employee travels between home and work, the travel is normally considered personal use of the vehicle, unless there was a business matter attended to between the home and the place of work.

If an employee travels between (i.e., to and/or from) home and a customer’s place of work, the travel is normally considered business use.

For more information, see the CRA Interpretation Bulletin IT-522R Vehicle, Travel and Sales Expenses of Employees (Archived).

(ii) Self-Employed

If a self-employed person has a home office and another office or place of business, usually the office outside the home is considered the base of business.  Travel between the home office and the base of business will normally be considered personal use of the vehicle.

Driving between (i.e., to and/or from) different premises of the same business would usually be considered business use.

Driving between the home office of a self-employed person and a customer’s place of work is considered business use, as is any other travel incurred for business purposes.

CRA Resources

IT-521R Motor vehicle expenses claimed by self-employed individuals (Archived)

Motor vehicle expenses – sole proprietorships and partnerships

About Expert Fiscaliste

Expert Fiscaliste provides Canadian and international income tax preparation and consulting services to individuals, businesses, and trusts. If you are interested in our services call us at 514-954-9031, or visit our Contact Tax Experts page.

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