News
WASHINGTON ― The Internal Revenue Service announced today that nearly 1.5 million people across the nation have unclaimed refunds for tax year 2019 but face a July 17 deadline to submit their tax return.
The IRS estimates almost $1.5 billion in refunds remain unclaimed because people haven’t filed their 2019 tax returns yet. The average median refund is $893 for this year, and the IRS has done a special state-by-state calculation to show how many people are potentially eligible for these refunds.
“The 2019 tax returns came due during the pandemic, and many people may have overlooked or forgotten about these refunds,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. “We want taxpayers to claim these refunds, but time is running out. People face a July 17 deadline to file their returns. We recommend taxpayers start soon to make sure they don’t miss out.”
Under the law, taxpayers usually have three years to file and claim their tax refunds. If they don't file within three years, the money becomes the property of the U.S. Treasury.
Issue Number: IR-2023-79
WASHINGTON —The Internal Revenue Service today issued its annual Data Book detailing the agency’s activities during fiscal year 2022 (Oct. 1, 2021 – Sept. 30, 2022), including revenue collected and tax returns processed.In many areas, the statistics in the 2022 Data Book reflect the impact that past resource constraints had on the agency’s ability to provide adequate taxpayer service and address compliance issues, including audits of higher income taxpayers, partnerships and large corporations.For FY 2022, the gross collections of the agency totaled more than $4.9 trillion, or about 96% of all government funding. When compared against the cost to fund the IRS, the ratio of agency costs to revenue was 29 cents per hundred dollars collected for 2022, the lowest cost to taxpayers in the history of the agency.
The IRS issued $50.9 billion in payments to taxpayers during FY 2022 as a result of legislation passed by Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of this, $3.7 billion were classified as Economic Impact Payments and $47.3 billion were considered Advance Child Tax Credits.The Comprehensive Taxpayer Attitude Survey has provided valuable insight to the agency for more than two decades, and during 2022 it was expanded to contact hard-to-reach populations. For 2022, the survey results showed improvements in taxpayer interactions with IRS. After a dip in satisfaction from 2019 to 2021, there was a significant increase in satisfaction in 2022, rising to a score of 78%, up from 75% in 2021
Ottawa, March 28, 2023
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is pleased that today’s federal budget confirms a deal to lower credit card fees for small merchants, as promised in last fall’s economic statement. However, the budget was a missed opportunity to provide relief to small businesses facing massive debt loads and cost increases.
“The biggest win in the 2023 budget is the deal reached with Visa and Mastercard to reduce credit card fees for small business owners,” said Dan Kelly, CFIB president. “A reduction of up to 27% in small business merchant fees is significant, but more details are needed to determine how many small businesses will benefit from this plan.” CFIB has been working closely on this file with government and is pleased with the commitment to expand reductions to other cards, such as American Express, and ensure the reductions are passed on to small firms by payment processors.
April 05, 2023
The following minimum wage increase will take effect from October 01, 2023..
| Province | Old Wage Rate per hour | New Wage rate effective October 01, 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Ontario | $14.50 | $16.55 |
| Manitoba | $13.00 | $15.30 |
| Nova scotia | $14.50 | $15.00 |
| Saskatchewan | $13.00 | $15.00 |
| Newfoundland & Labrador | $14.50 | $15.00 |
The rest of the provinces are still in the process of announcing their increases..
March 21, 2023
Due to an increase in inflation, the federal minimum wage will increase from $15.55 to $16.65 per hour effective from April 01, 2023.
This is based on the Consumer Price Index, which rose 6.8% in 2022, the increase will help make life more affordable for the approximately 26,000 Canadian workers who earn less than the current rate. The federal minimum wage applies to the federally regulated private sectors, including banks, postal and courier services, and interprovincial air, rail, road, and marine transportation.
Dear Clients using QuickBooks online, On Apr 21, American Express Card (Canada) will be moving to a more reliable and secure network connection. As a result, you'll need to update your account connection to make sure your bank stays synced with QuickBooks.
Every Canadian deserves a real and fair chance at success. Yet some Canadian workers still struggle financially while working part-time, temporary and low- or minimum-wage jobs..
To keep pace with inflation, the federal minimum wage will increase from $15.55 to $16.65 per hour on April 1, 2023. Based on the Consumer Price Index, which rose 6.8% in 2022, the increase will help make life more affordable for the approximately 26,000 Canadian workers who earn less than the current rate.
Freshbooks lays off 10% of its employees to boost its profitability. They had a team of approx. 800 people before these payoffs. We hope their customer services should not be affected by these layoffs.
Denver — January 25, 2023 —Xero, the global small business platform, today released a quarterly update as part of its Xero Small Business Insights (XSBI) program, which aggregates and anonymizes data from tens of thousands of Xero small business subscribers from the United States and Canada. The quarterly data, which tracks performance metrics from January 2017 through September 2022, found that sales growth for US small businesses continued to slow and recorded its two smallest rises of the past 20 months in July 2022 and September 2022. The slowdown in sales growth is likely due to the impact of inflation which is limiting the capacity of consumers to spend.
Toronto — January 25, 2023 — Canada’s small business sales growth slowed further between July and September 2022, reaching a 19-month low, according to recent Xero Small Business Insights (XSBI) data from global small business platform Xero..
January 16, 2023
Now you can send a professional-looking invoice to your customer in French also and get paid. Your customer can pay using a credit card, Apple Pay, online, or over the phone. You may have already been using the payments from your customer through QuickBooks in English, but now you use the same process in French.
January 03, 2023
W2 and 1099 NEC US tax forms for the tax-year 2022 filing is due by January 31, 2023.
July 22, 2022
When you are investing in technology or designing an eCommerce website to manage or grow your business, you can get up $15,000 grant under Canada Digital Adoption Program, if you are eligible.
The government of Canada is helping businesses to transform into digital.
You need to be a Canadian-owned business for profit and have at least one employee and $500k in revenue in the last three years. Under this program, you also get a digital advisor to work with.
You can also apply for up to $100k interest-free loan for five years.
January 07, 2022
The Ontario government announced its support for small businesses due to the recent locked-down due to the spread of the Omicron variant.
- $10,000.00 grant for eligible businesses that are subject to closure.
- Electricity rate relief for businesses
“Our government understands that public health measures needed to blunt the spread of the Omicron variant are impacting the lives and livelihoods of small businesses, workers, and families across Ontario,” said Peter Bethlenfalvy, Minister of Finance. “
Eligible small businesses include:
- Restaurants and bars;
- Facilities for indoor sports and recreational fitness activities (including fitness centers and gyms);
- Performing arts and cinemas;
- Museums, galleries, aquariums, zoos, science centers, landmarks, historic sites, botanical gardens, and similar attractions;
- Meeting or event spaces;
- Tour and guide services;
- Conference centers and convention centers;
- Driving instruction for individuals; and
- Before- and after-school programs.
The Ontario government is also providing electricity-rate relief to support small businesses, as well as workers and families spending more time at home while the province is in Modified Step Two. For 21 days starting at 12:01 am on Tuesday, January 18, 2022, electricity prices will be set 24 hours a day at the current off-peak rate of 8.2 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is less than half the cost of the current on-peak rate. The off-peak rate will apply automatically to residential, small businesses, and farms who pay regulated rates set by the Ontario Energy Board and get a bill from a utility and will benefit customers on both Time-of-Use and Tiered rate plans.
“We know that spending more time at home means using more electricity during the day when prices are higher, that’s why we are moving to off-peak electricity rates 24 hours per day, seven days a week,” said Todd Smith, Minister of Energy. “The off-peak rate will provide immediate savings for families, small businesses, and farms as all Ontarians work together to slow the spread of the Omicron variant.”
Ottawa, Ontario October 18, 2021
CRA acknowledges the pandemic's impacts on small businesses, and CRA says we're here to help.
The CRA offers a free virtual meeting with a Liaison Officer. Owners of small businesses and self-employed individuals can visit them virtually to understand their business tax and GST/HST obligations. The virtual meeting with CRA will be 100% confidential. CRA will not share the information you choose to discuss with a liaison officer with other areas of the CRA or anyone else. These personalized virtual sessions have been implemented to support, guide, and help owners of small businesses and self-employed individuals, ease the stress of filing during an already chaotic year.
Ottawa, Ontario October 18, 2021
CRA acknowledges the pandemic's impacts on small businesses, and CRA says we're here to help.
Free Liaison Officer service
The CRA offers a free virtual meeting with a Liaison Officer. Owners of small businesses and self-employed individuals can visit them virtually to understand their business tax and GST/HST obligations. The virtual meeting with CRA will be 100% confidential. CRA will not share the information you choose to discuss with a liaison officer with other areas of the CRA or anyone else. These personalized virtual sessions have been implemented to support, guide, and help owners of small businesses and self-employed individuals, ease the stress of filing during an already chaotic year.
CEBA loan amount has been increased, Effective December 2020
Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) Loan Amount
In March 2020, the Government of Canada announced the $40K interest fee loan, and you do not pay $10K.
Effective December 4, 2020, the loan amount was increased to $60K. Only have to pay $10k of this expended amount.
Notes:
- $20K you do not have to pay if you repay the balance by December 31, 2022.
- No interest until December 31, 2022