Sunday News Roundup 22.08.14: DST, WFH, CRA and more Canadian accounting news 

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TORONTO, August 14, 2022 – The news that commanded the most attention in the Canadian accounting world during the past week was the release of the results from the May 2022 CFE. We covered the anxious runup to the release as well as the publication of the successful candidates. But the accounting issue with the potential for most long-term impact was the passage of the US Inflation Reduction Act — and its reversal of a minimum corporate tax provision. 

In U.S. climate bill sets stage for trade fight with Canada over digital sales taxes and Canadian trade minister vows to keep pushing U.S. on global tax deal, we see the Canadian government in a delicate balancing act, praising the US passage of clean energy legislation, and playing nice over its promise to impose a digital sales tax (DST) on the Amazons and Facebooks of the world. One to watch in 2023. 

Work from home? A remote possibility for accountants

According to The industries that are – and aren’t – offering remote jobs right now, accounting is one white-collar profession that is pulling its labour force back into office work. The article is based on similar reports by both Indeed Canada and Ziprecruiter gleaned from online job posting data. And they appear to say the same thing: white-collar workers are more likely to have the option of working from home, “but only around 20 per cent of the job postings in legal services, banking and accounting advertise the possibility to skirt the office, according to Indeed.” 

Have you checked your clients’ CRA accounts?

Apparently the Canada Revenue Agency has planned an email blitz to get Canadians to cash outstanding cheques worth $1.4-billion according to the Globe and Mail. The CRA will be sending out 75,000 emails over the next year to target recipients of the Canada child benefit and related provincial and territorial programs, as well as recipients of the GST/HST credits and the Alberta Energy Tax Refund. 

According to the article, “representatives can also view uncashed cheques of their clients,” so do your clients a favour, if you haven’t already. Or they can just go into My Account and check it themselves, says Jamie Golombek, in Here's how to see if you have one of the 8.9 million uncashed cheques issued by the CRA. 

Accounting software news

Sage announced has announced the Canadian release of Sage Payroll, a “cloud-first” solution that integrates accounting, payroll, and HR functions into a single unified platform with Sage Accounting. Sage Payroll is CRA-compliant and aligned with changing tax legislation.

Quick Hits: Articles of Interest

Ahead of new sugary beverage tax, N.L. launches Rethink Your Drink campaign (CBC)
Luxury goods tax on super rich could hit green cars. Here’s how (Canadian Press)
Selling Your Cottage? Watch the Taxes (Morningstar)
Pulling in the big bucks in 2022? Here are four tax shelters (BNN Bloomberg)
After UN chief calls out 'scandalous' profits, Ottawa offers no plan to hike taxes on oil and gas industry (CBC)
Ottawa's new Tax-Free First Home Savings Account is coming: What you need to know (Financial Post)
Celebrating five years of the A4S CFO Leadership Network in Canada (CPA Canada)
PwC fined £1.8m over audit failures in BT's Italy operations (Yahoo Finance) 

By Canadian Accountant staff.