Latest news with #CanadaChildBenefit
Hamilton Spectator
23-05-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Late tax filers could lose their Canada Child Benefit and other rebates. Here's why
Tax season is over, but if you still haven't filed, it's not too late, according to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). If you file late and collect the Canada Child Benefit, your payments could stop. The CRA advises Canadians who collect the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) and related provincial and territorial payments, to file their tax returns on time every year. Your CCB payments may stop in July if you and/or your spouse/common-law partner do not file your tax return on time, the CRA warns. The benefit period runs from July to June of the following year and payments are calculated and updated each July. You must file your tax return even if your income is tax exempt or you have no income, the CRA adds. Your CCB payment is not taxable. This means that you will not receive a slip, and you don't have to report it on your tax return, according to the CRA. In addition to a refund, taxpayers must file a return to be eligible for benefit and credit payments. This includes the Canada child benefit , goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax credit , Canada workers benefit , and more. In a LinkedIn post , the CRA said it has received more than 27 million returns this tax season, with 95 per cent filed electronically. The agency issued close to 14 million refunds, which averaged to $2,202 each. While the April 30 tax filing deadline has passed, the CRA added in a release that taxpayers may delay filing because they don't know the process or are worried about making mistakes. 'We want to remind you that you can still file after the deadline, and there are a number of CRA services that can make the process easy,' the CRA noted. In addition to a refund, taxpayers must file a return to be eligible for benefit and credit payments. This includes the Canada child benefit, goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax credit, Canada workers benefit, and more. There are multiple ways to file your taxes and services that can help. Online filing is the method of choice for 95 per cent of Canadians. The CRA has a list of NETFILE-certified tax software. Some options are free. When you file online and register for a CRA account , you can use the auto-fill my return service. The service automatically fills in parts of your return with information the CRA has on file. Once the 'Auto-fill my return' service has populated your return with the information, make sure all the proper fields on the return are filled in and that the information provided is true, accurate and complete before you file your return. More than 19.3 million individuals used this service to complete their 2024 return, the CRA added. When you file your tax return, you may end up owing money to the CRA. If you can't pay your debt right away, you can arrange to pay your debt over time . If you file your tax return late and owe tax for 2024, you may be charged a late-filing penalty. In addition, the CRA will charge you compound daily interest on any unpaid amount owing for 2024 starting the day after the balance is due. This includes any balance owing if the CRA reassesses your return.
Hamilton Spectator
20-05-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Mississauga, Brampton, Caledon families may be eligible for this Peel Region child care subsidy
For parents in Peel Region struggling with the cost of licensed child care, a regional subsidy program aims to swoop in and assist. The Peel child care subsidy program is available to families with children under 12, aiming to increase affordability and access to quality licensed child care. The subsidy applies to licensed child care centres, licensed home child care, and some summer camp programs. 'The purpose of the subsidy is to increase affordability and access to quality licensed child care for families, especially those with lower or middle incomes,' said Lori Nicholls-Kerec, manager of early years and child care at Peel Region, in an email. 'The subsidy reduces financial barriers to accessing child care.' Eligibility for the child care subsidy depends on several factors. Families must live in Peel Region, and parents or guardians must be working, attending school or have another need for child care. Families can check their eligibility and start their application online via Peel Region's website . Income is another key factor, with applicants required to submit their most recent tax return or, if they are new to Canada, their Canada Child Benefit notice. Parents need to create a Children's Services account to submit their application online and upload the required documents, such as proof of income, employment or school enrolment. It's recommended to apply at least four weeks before child care is needed. The child care subsidy works in tandem with the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) Plan , which supports children under six. At participating child care centres, families pay a maximum of $22 per day regardless of their income. If families qualify for the subsidy, they can see further reductions, potentially lowering fees to zero. The subsidy is determined through an income test, and for families with multiple children, the total subsidy amount is divided equally among all eligible children. Eighty per cent of families receiving the subsidy earn $50,000 or less, but families with incomes over $100,000 may still qualify for assistance. According to Nicholls-Kerec, there is currently no waitlist for the subsidy and application appointments are available within two business days. If families have all their required documentation ready, they can begin receiving the subsidy quickly. About 6,000 children are currently receiving a child care subsidy in Peel. Once families begin receiving the subsidy, there are ongoing responsibilities to maintain eligibility. Parents must report any changes to their circumstances, such as income or family composition, within two weeks. They are also required to continue paying their fees to the child care provider and respond to any requests for information promptly. Additionally, families must participate in an annual review to renew their subsidy. Keeping documents up to date, including proof of income and employment, is required for maintaining continued support. Peel Region's child care subsidy program has grown significantly over the years. In 1998, the program supported about 2,000 families, but by 2024, nearly 10,000 children received a child care subsidy. Families receiving the subsidy currently pay an average of less than $4 per day per child.
Vancouver Sun
12-05-2025
- Business
- Vancouver Sun
CRA looking for the owner of 160 cheques worth over $100K. Could it be you?
OTTAWA — If only they'd signed up for direct deposit. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is searching for the owners of 160 cheques each worth over $100,000 as part of a massive stash of more than 10 million uncashed cheques waiting to be claimed. As of late April, the CRA was sitting on a total of $1.7 billion payments that it once unsuccessfully tried to send to their rightful owners going back nearly three decades, according to data compiled by the agency for National Post. 'Each year, the Canada Revenue Agency issues millions of payments in the form of refunds and benefits. These are issued either by direct deposit or by cheque,' CRA spokesperson Nina Ioussoupova wrote to National Post. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'Over time, some payments remain uncashed for a variety of reasons such as the recipient misplacing the cheque or moving without updating their address.' The vast majority of the 10.2 million uncashed cheques are worth less than $1,000. But there are still nearly 190,000 individual payments worth between $1,000 and $100,000 sitting in the CRA's metaphorical coffers waiting to be claimed by their rightful owner. And then there are 160 cheques worth at least $100,000 — or a solid down payment on a house anywhere outside of Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal — still looking for their rightful owner. 'Cheques can date back as far as 1998 and, because government-issued cheques never expire or stale date, the CRA can reissue a payment once requested by the taxpayer,' Ioussoupova wrote. To access the online tool to see if you're one of 160 Canadians sitting on a home down payment, visit CRA's website and look for the agency's 'My Account' service. Once logged in, click on the 'Uncashed Cheques' link towards the bottom of the right side column on the 'Overview' page. Any unpaid amounts that have sat dormant for more than six months will be listed on that page, as well as the necessary forms to claim your money. For years after 2020, the year the tax agency launched the online uncashed cheques, the balance of uncashed payments grew steadily. The first year, the agency had just over $1 billion in uncashed cheques linked to long-standing benefit programs such as GST/HST reimbursements, the Canada Child Benefit or even income tax refunds. By April 2021, the total had grown at a rate of $500,000 daily for one year to hit roughly $1.2 billion in unclaimed payments. The amount hit a record high by April 30, 2024, with an estimated 10.3 million uncashed cheques valued at a staggering $1.8 billion waiting to be claimed, according to CRA. For the first time since 2020, the total amount of unclaimed payments dropped slightly in the last year. The CRA's unclaimed balances stands at roughly $1.7 billion over 10.2 million uncashed cheques. 'Since the initiative was launched, Canadians have reclaimed approximately 4,500,000 uncashed cheques valued at $1.6B as of March 2025,' Ioussoupova wrote. After claiming any uncashed cheques, taxpayers should sign up for direct deposit to ensure they don't miss out on any further payments. In the meantime, the money from the unclaimed cheques doesn't simply sit in an account waiting to be paid. Instead, it goes back into the government's general coffers to be used elsewhere until a taxpayer cashes their cheque. National Post cnardi@ Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what's really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here . Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here .
Ottawa Citizen
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
Sarion and Wilson: Federal politicians must not ignore the food security crisis
The city at the heart of federal politics is facing a food-insecurity crisis. Article content Last year in Ottawa, a total of 556,232 visits were made to nearly 100 food programs in the Ottawa Food Bank's network. Twenty of those programs — including food banks, meal programs and food cupboards — located in Ottawa Centre, share an electoral riding with Parliament Hill. Food insecurity has never been worse in our city, affecting 25 per cent of households. Article content Article content If this is the state of the nation's capital, what does that mean for the rest of the country? More than two million visits were made to food banks in Canada last year, and food insecurity emergencies have been declared in nearby cities such as Kingston and Hawkesbury. Article content When numbers like these come out, the same argument comes up: People who don't 'need' the food bank are accessing support. Blame is often shifted to certain demographics in ways that are sometimes quietly, and not-so-quietly, xenophobic or racist. No population is to blame for high food bank usage. Food insecurity has existed in Ottawa for at least 40 years and needs a permanent solution. We can't solve this by deciding who should or shouldn't be allowed to access food support. We can solve this by asking why so many people are accessing food programs in the first place. The answer? Policy. Article content Social supports, the rising cost of living, foreign affairs and international trade: these are all aspects of federal policies that impact food insecurity here and across the country. Parliament shares a responsibility with provinces and municipalities by funding housing and health care, which directly impact food insecurity. Article content Article content In the 2024 Ottawa Hunger Report published by the Ottawa Food Bank, we see that many federally regulated benefits — such as Employment Insurance, the Canada Child Benefit and Disability Benefits — have not kept up with the increased cost of living. Ottawa Public Health's 2024 Nutritious Food Basket report, which looks at the state of food affordability in Ottawa, shows that many families who receive social support often end up in a deficit month after month. Families can't afford adequate food, or they are sacrificing other essentials such as utilities, medicine, childcare and transportation, to be able to buy groceries. Article content
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
John Ivison: Mark Carney's platform relies on fiscal alchemy and hopeful assumptions
WHITBY, ONT. — On this week's Ivison video, regular guest Eugene Lang referred to 'the trifecta — or what Van Morrison would call The Great Deception.' Lang, an experienced Liberal operative, was talking about the tendency of governments to promise to simultaneously reduce taxes, increase spending and balance budgets. 'This kind of thing has never been achieved by any federal government,' he said. 'It's probably not advisable in any context, especially not the current context, where the prospects are that the Canadian economy is probably going to go into a recession, where the tax revenues will go down and automatic stabilizer expenditures on things like employment insurance are destined to go up.' Yet, that's exactly what the Liberal policy platform promises to do. It commits to a $20 billion income tax cut, 'investments' of $129 billion, and a balanced operating budget within three years, eliminating the current $15 billion operating deficit. These documents are not drawn up under oath and there appear to be a number of highly presumptuous assumptions. For one thing, the baseline for all the calculations is a Parliamentary Budget Officer report from March, when the tariff situation was still in flux. For another, the platform books $30 billion in savings from productivity improvements over three years. All governments say they will make savings, improve program efficiency and cut red tape but they generally don't make them the backbone of their revenue assumptions. More prudently, the platform only includes tariff revenues for the current year. I asked Liberal Leader Mark Carney if that suggests he thinks the trade war will be resolved in 2025. He replied that it is more a matter of fiscal caution. 'I don't think we want to rely on those revenues,' he said. Two decades of covering revenue projections have bred a deep cynicism. It is a truism that governments should be judged by results, not intentions. That said, the Liberals should be commended for taking on problems deeply ingrained in the Canadian economy. The focus of the platform is capital spending. In 2021, the Liberal platform devoted 65 per cent of its 'investments' to the operating budget — consumption — and just 32 percent to capital spending on projects designed to generate future revenues. In this document, that ratio is reversed: 33 percent on operations and 64 percent on capital. The intent is to trigger private sector investment through government intervention designed to reduce uncertainty and bolster confidence among investors. Carney said the Trudeau government spent too much and invested too little. He said the new plan would reduce operating spending increases to an average of less than 2 per cent a year, from an average of 9 per cent over the past decade. He said his government would do this without cutting transfers to individuals or to provinces for things like health care. Dental care, child care and the Canada Child Benefit will all be protected, though the platform does not commit to any expansion of pharmacare. This is the fiscal equivalent of turning base metal into gold. But there is at least an attempt to tackle the productivity issue. The platform provides more details on the plan to build trade corridors and eliminate barriers to internal trade; on improved credentials recognition for professionals; and on 'major nation-building projects like expanding the Port of Churchill in Manitoba. Carney has been criticized for saying he will not repeal the former bill C-69, the Impact Assessment Act. But the platform says a Liberal government would establish a 'one-window' project review with a maximum two-year timeline (down from five years) and invite provinces and territories to sign cooperation agreements that would allow them to lead environmental reviews. Carney's plan for the industrial carbon tax remains opaque. The platform says a Liberal government would 'improve' the current system and work with governments to link their large-emitter markets across the country 'to establish a long-term signal to lock in investments'. I asked Carney to expand on this at the morning press conference. He said that the new plan would create opportunities for provinces to opt into an 'augmented' system. Large emitters could fund measures that would reduce emissions for people, like retrofits or electric vehicles, he said. He said the government wants to give emitters a chance to save carbon for themselves or for others. The document says the new plan will 'make sure that Canadian industry reduces emissions, is still competitive and is able to withstand America's trade war'. But how that will all work is still unclear, at least to me, and Canadians deserve a more fulsome explanation before election day. Another area where the platform promises to implement policies that are long overdue is in relation to defence. The biggest single ticket item in the platform is a pledge to spend $30 billion on defence on an upfront sticker price basis (or $18 billion on an accrual basis, which is how the government accounts for it in the fiscal framework). Members of the Canadian Armed Forces will get a pay raise; there will be more investment in housing for the Forces; there are commitments to expand fleets of aerial and underwater drones; and there will be new investments in self-propelled artillery systems and air defence capabilities. The combined impact will take Canada's defence spending to two per cent of GDP by 2028-29, though Carney conceded in the press conference that the NATO summit at the end of June might change that timetable. 'It is possible that we'll need to do more,' he said. It is an ambitious platform, commendable in many ways. Carney, as with all the leaders in this election, wants the best of his country. But Donald Trump wants to own Canada and Greenland. Just because leaders want something to happen, doesn't make it a reality. jivison@ National Post Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what's really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here.
