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I received a phone call from my ISP#1 .. Blacksun.ca over in Saskatchewan .. They host my mega account of the PetLvr.com domain. This account includes many sub-domain and domain aliases .. like this one! This 1800HART.com domain is a domain alias for another sub-domain. I know it gets confusing at times, because I actually host HBSMC.com (my business account) on my other ISP#2 server .. and PetLvr.com/hbsmc/blog/ is the originating source for 1800HART.com/blog/ (I’ve duplicated the root to avoid confusion of the passings of clients to this site.

ANYWAY .. HARTandYVONNE.com is also another domain that is aliased under my account, and in that account I had this pretty cool addalink script that everyone could add their page to my page. Actually, I was also trying to get a link from every country in the world but that never panned out~

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The following News Release or Speech has just been posted on the Finance Canada Site.

Ottawa, December 28, 2006
2006-091

The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, today announced proposals to improve the taxation of financial institutions by better aligning the current tax rules with new accounting standards set out by the Accounting Standards Board that came into effect as of October 1, 2006.

“Canada’s New Government is acting to make our tax system simpler and fairer,” said Minister Flaherty. “The proposals I am putting forward today will reduce the compliance burden on financial institutions and improve the economic efficiency of the tax system by improving the measurement of income and capital for tax purposes.”

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The following News Release or Speech has just been posted on the Finance Canada Site.

Ottawa, December 28, 2006
2006-090

The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, today proposed an amendment to the Excise Tax Act to exempt the services of midwives throughout Canada from the goods and services tax (GST) and the harmonized sales tax (HST).

“By taking this action today, we are supporting the midwifery profession and making this birthing option more affordable for women throughout Canada,” said Minister Flaherty.

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The following News Release or Speech has just been posted on the Finance Canada Site ..

Ottawa, December 27, 2006
2006-089

The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, announced today the automobile expense deduction limits and the prescribed rates for the automobile operating expense benefit that will apply in 2007. Specifically:

* The ceiling on the capital cost of passenger vehicles for capital cost allowance (CCA) purposes will remain at $30,000 (plus applicable federal and provincial sales taxes) for purchases after 2006. This ceiling restricts the cost of a vehicle on which CCA may be claimed for business purposes.
* The limit on deductible leasing costs will remain at $800 per month (plus applicable federal and provincial sales taxes) for leases entered into after 2006. This limit ensures that the level of deductions for leased and purchased vehicles is consistent. In addition, there is a second restriction on the deduction of automobile lease payments which ensures that lease costs relating to the portion of the price of the vehicle that is in excess of the capital cost ceiling are not deductible.
* The maximum allowable interest deduction for amounts borrowed to purchase an automobile will remain at $300 per month for loans related to vehicles acquired after 2006. This limit reflects the reasonable cost of financing a vehicle for business purposes.
* The limit on the deduction of tax-exempt allowances paid by employers to employees using their personal vehicle for business purposes for 2007 will remain at 50 cents per kilometre for the first 5,000 kilometres driven and 44 cents for each additional kilometre. For the Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, the tax-exempt allowance will remain at 54 cents for the first 5,000 kilometres driven and 48 cents for each additional kilometre. The allowance amounts reflect the key cost components of owning and operating an automobile, such as depreciation, financing, insurance, maintenance and fuel costs.
* The general prescribed rate used to determine the taxable benefit relating to the personal portion of automobile operating expenses paid by employers for 2007 will remain at 22 cents per kilometre. For taxpayers employed principally in selling or leasing automobiles, the prescribed rate will remain at 19 cents per kilometre. The amount of the benefit reflects 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 and is also included in the employee’s income.

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After 7+ months using SWIFT .. I have decided that this software has basically made my life miserable, by not being user friendly enough to suit my needs and use it efficiently!

Basically .. I need a TO-DO List with the following characteristics:

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Last week I received an email asking why I post 100% of certain government news items and other times I don’t. There was also a comment implied that I’m “STEALING CONTENT” when I post the article in its entirety. Naturally, I trashed that email and tried to forget all about, and figured the person would just show up on one of my posts and leave a comment - but, has not done so.

Firstly, around my sites I do post a lot of other people’s content .. in the form of Ezine articles and news releases.

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The following News Release or Speech has just been posted on the Finance Canada Site.

Ottawa, December 22, 2006
2006-088

Canadian families, students, workers and seniors will be able to keep more of their hard-earned money in 2006 and 2007. Canada’s New Government is providing substantial and immediate tax relief in every way the government collects taxes.

“Within the first 100 days of taking office, our government moved swiftly to lower taxes in order to create the right conditions and opportunities for families and businesses to be successful,” said Minister Flaherty. “While we have made great strides, Canadians still pay too much tax, and our government will continue to look at new ways to ease the tax burden and create a real Canadian tax advantage.”

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The following News Release or Speech has just been posted on the Finance Canada Site.

Release of The Fiscal Monitor

The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, today released The Fiscal Monitor for October 2006.

Highlights
October 2006: budgetary surplus of $0.4 billion
There was a budgetary surplus of $0.4 billion in October 2006, compared to a $1.6-billion surplus in October 2005. Revenues decreased by $0.2 billion, or 1.0 per cent, reflecting both the goods and services tax (GST) rate reduction and a number of one-time factors affecting income tax revenues. Program expenses increased by $1.0 billion, or 7.0 per cent, reflecting increases in transfer payments and departmental operating expenses. Transfer payments, which account for about two-thirds of total program expenses, increased by $0.6 billion, or 6.3 per cent. Public debt charges were down $19 million.

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I thought I would add some clarity to the designation of eligible dividends, as noted in the previous post notice from Canada Revenue Agency .. although you should direct your queries to your own tax preparer or CPA/CA/Accountant for tax professional advice.

Background

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The following is now available on the CRA Web site:

2006-12-20

Canadian resident individuals who receive eligible dividends in 2006 and subsequent years will be entitled to a higher gross-up and dividend tax credit. Corporations have to designate each eligible dividend that they pay, and notify shareholders in writing that the dividend is eligible. A corporation must make every effort to notify shareholders of an eligible dividend. The following are general guidelines for corporations to follow.

A. Notification of Shareholders
For the 2006 Year
All Corporations

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