Tax & Accounting for Farms & Agricultural Businesses

A write-off is simply a deductible expense. You subtract it from the income it helped earn, so the saving equals the expense multiplied by your marginal tax rate, not the full amount spent. To qualify, the cost must be incurred to earn business or employment income, be reasonable in amount, and be backed by a receipt. Purely personal costs never qualify, and mixed-use items such as a vehicle or a home office are split by business-use proportion.

Taxation is the compulsory collection of money by government to pay for public services. In Canada it operates at three levels: federal and provincial income and sales taxes, and municipal property taxes. Income tax is self-assessed, meaning you report your own income and claim your own deductions, and the CRA verifies afterwards through assessment and review. Rates are progressive, so later slices of income are taxed more heavily while the earlier slices stay at lower rates.

Yes. The CRA answers individual, business and benefit enquiries by phone, and its Contact the CRA page lists the current numbers and hours for each line. Have your social insurance number or business number, a recent return and your notice of assessment ready, because the agent will verify your identity before discussing an account. For account details, balances and slips, My Account often answers the question faster than the phone.

Federal income tax, GST/HST and excise duties flow into general revenue, which funds transfers to the provinces for health care and social programmes, benefits such as the Canada child benefit and old age security, defence, federal departments and interest on the public debt. Provincial income and sales taxes fund schools, hospitals and municipal transfers. Canada Pension Plan and Employment Insurance premiums sit in separate accounts and are not part of general revenue. The federal budget publishes the yearly split.

Total income is measured before tax. On a T1 it is the sum of your income sources for the year, such as employment income from your T4, self-employment, investment, and pension amounts, added up before deductions and before any tax withheld. Tax withheld at source is a payment toward your final bill, not a reduction in income. Deductions take total income down to net income, and further deductions give taxable income, which the rates apply to.

The consumer carbon price is gone. The federal fuel charge on gasoline, natural gas and other fuels has been removed, and the quarterly consumer rebate stopped along with the charge. Carbon pricing on large industrial emitters remains, and some provinces operate their own industrial systems, so businesses inside those systems still have reporting and compliance obligations. If your province ran a consumer carbon charge of its own, check with the provincial authority on where that now stands.