The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has announced several key changes affecting business taxes in 2024. These include modifications to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) with new contribution rates and T4 reporting obligations.
Additionally, mandatory electronic filing thresholds for certain information returns, electronic filing requirements for GST/HST registrants, and new reporting requirements for the Canadian Dental Care Plan have been introduced. The government has also introduced a new administrative policy regarding the province of employment (POE) for remote work agreements.
The revised CRA regulations took effect on January 1, 2024. Check in with your payroll administrator or bookkeeper regarding these changes.
Click here to learn more.
Dental Care Expenses Have Changed
This tax season, employers are required to include information about dental care benefits offered to employees on T4 or T4A slips. The reporting obligation, effective from the 2023 tax year onward, mandates the disclosure of whether, on December 31 of the relevant taxation year, a payee or any family members were eligible for dental insurance or any form of dental coverage due to current or past employment.
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) emphasized the mandatory nature of this requirement and warned that failure to report could lead to financial penalties. To facilitate compliance, the CRA introduced new boxes on the T4 and T4A forms, such as Box 45 for Employer-offered Dental Benefits on the T4 and Box 015 for Payer-offered Dental Benefits on the T4A (mandatory if an amount is reported in Box 016, Pension or Superannuation). The CRA may reject slips without this information.
The Registered Retirement Savings Plan Contribution Limit Has Changed
There is a new registered retirement savings plan contribution limit put in place by the Canada Revenue Agency for 2024. It’s now $31,560, and that’s an increase from the contribution limit in 2023. While the limit in 2024 is still 18% of the previous year’s income, like it was last year, the dollar amount for the maximum RRSP contribution has increased from $30,780 to $31,560. Please keep this change in mind if you are offering an RRSP Matching Program to your employees.
The Canada Revenue Agency opened its portal for filing 2023 income taxes on February 19th. It’s important to note that in the upcoming months, taxpayers will be submitting declarations for their previous year’s earnings, along with any applicable deductions and contributions impacting taxable income. For those who run their own business or those with self-employed spouses, the deadline is extended to June 17th this year, as the usual June 15th date falls on a Saturday. Individual Canadians are required to file their income taxes with the CRA by April 30th.