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The filing deadline for income tax returns for the 2020 tax year for self-employed individuals and their spouses is Tuesday June 15, 2021.

Information on that filing deadline and on available filing methods can be found on the Canada Revenue Agency website at https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/important-dates-individuals/filing-dates-tax-return.html and https://www.canada.ca/en/services/taxes/income-tax/personal-income-tax/get-ready-taxes.html.

The prescribed leasing interest rate mandated by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) must be calculated using bond yield information found on the Bank of Canada website. That calculation shows that the prescribed interest leasing rate for the month of June 2021 will be 2.96%.

The CRA's instructions on how to calculate the prescribed leasing interest rate, which includes a link to the necessary bond yield information can be found at https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/sole-proprietorships-partnerships/business-expenses/leasing-costs/prescribed-interest-rates.html.

In 2020, some self-employed Canadians received Canada Emergency Relief Benefits (CERB) to which they were not entitled, as the result of erroneous information provided by the federal government, and those individuals were later required to repay such CERB amounts received. However, in February 2021, it was announced that relief from that repayment requirement would be provided for qualifying self-employed individuals, and those who had already repaid would have those funds refunded to them.

The federal government has now announced the details of that refund program. As of May 27, 2021, self-employed workers who meet the applicable criteria can request a reimbursement of their payments by completing the Canada Revenue Agency's (CRA) CERB Reimbursement Application for Self-Employed Individuals form and submitting it to the CRA electronically or by mail.

The CRA will begin processing applications after June 15, 2021, and reimbursement should be received within about 90 days from the application date. Details of the repayment program, including eligibility criteria, can be found on the CRA website at https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/news/2021/05/government-of-canada-to-reimburse-self-employed-workers-who-repaid-the-cerb.html.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has posted a Tax Tip on its website outlining the several methods taxpayers can use to make a change, or correct an error, on an already-filed return.

Requests for changes to already-filed returns can be made online, or submitted in hard copy, using Form T1-ADJ. The Tax Tip notes that requests submitted online will take about 2 weeks to be processed, while those submitted by mail can take 10 to 12.

Regardless of the method by which the return was filed or the change is requested, change requests should be submitted only after the taxpayer has received his or her Notice of Assessment.

More information on making a change request can be found in the Tax Tip, which is available on the CRA website at https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/news/newsroom/tax-tips/tax-tips-2021/how-to-change-your-income-tax-return-after-you-file-it.html.

Last year, the federal government announced that families who are eligible for the Canada Child Benefit in 2021 and have a child or children under the age of six could receive a supplement — the Canada Child Benefit Young Child Supplement.

Finance Canada has announced that the first two payments of the supplement will be issued at the same time on May 28, 2021 and are based on family net income from 2019, as reported on their tax return. Payments to be made at the end of July and October 2021 are based on family net income for 2020, as reported on their tax return.

Families having a net income of $120,000 or less will receive $300 per payment for each child under the age of six. Families with a net income of more than $120,000 will receive $150 per payment for each child under the age of six. All such payments are tax-free.

More information on the program can be found on the federal government website at CCB young child supplement - Canada.ca.

The most recent release of Statistics Canada's Consumer Price Index shows that the rate of inflation for the month of April 2021 was up by 3.4%, as measured on a year-over-year basis.

Statistics Canada attributes the sharp increase in the rate of inflation to the “base year effect”. In April 2020, the rate of inflation fell by 0.2%, marking the first decline in that rate for over a decade. Statistics Canada cautions that the impact of the base year effect will be temporary, and that users should consider the impact of that base year effect when interpreting the year-over-year inflation statistics for April 2021.

More details of the inflation picture for the month of April 2021 can be found in the May release of the Consumer Price Index, which is available on the StatsCan website at https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/210519/dq210519a-eng.htm?HPA=1&indid=3665-1&indgeo=0.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has issued a warning to taxpayers with respect to a tax scheme currently being promoted, typically to homeowners who have significant equity in their homes and substantial amounts held in RRSPs or RRIFs. Promoters are claiming that such individuals can, by using their scheme, transfer funds out of their RRSPs or RRIFs into a TFSA, without paying taxes and without regard to the annual TFSA contribution limit.

The scheme operates through the use of a special purpose mortgage investment company, and the CRA warning indicates that the increase in the value of the TFSA would be considered an advantage, which is subject to the 100% advantage tax.

Details of the scheme, and the CRA warning, can be found on the Agency's website at https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/news/newsroom/tax-tips/tax-tips-2021/warning-watch-out-for-tfsa-maximizer-schemes.html.

Taxpayers who are unable to file their returns or make payment of taxes owed on a timely basis for reasons outside their control (including financial hardship) can apply, under the Taxpayer Relief Program, to have any resulting penalty or interest charges waived or cancelled. Such waiver or cancellation is provided at the discretion of the Minister of National Revenue, based on the facts of the individual case.

Applications under the Taxpayer Relief Program are made using Form RC4288, and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has recently updated and re-released that form. The current version of the RC4288 can be found on the CRA website at https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/forms/rc4288.html.

The most recent release of Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey shows an increase in the rate of unemployment during the month of April 2021. That rate, as measured on a year-over-year basis, rose by 0.6%, to 8.1%.

The rise in the unemployment rate was attributed by StatsCan, in part, to the tightening of public health measures in response to the third wave of the pandemic. Employment during the month declined particularly in the sectors that are most affected by those public health measures (e.g., retail trade, accommodation, and food services).

More details of the employment picture for the month, by province, industry, and demographic group, can be found in the May release of the Labour Force Survey, available on the StatsCan website at https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/210507/dq210507a-eng.htm?HPA=1&indid=3587-2&indgeo=0.

The most recent release of Statistics Canada's Consumer Price Index shows that the rate of inflation for the month of March 2021 was 2.2%, as measured on a year-over-year basis.

While the monthly increase was double the percentage increase recorded for February 2021, Statistics Canada notes that a significant proportion of the increase in March 2021 (measured on a year-over-year basis) was attributable to a steep decline in prices in March 2020. For that month, at the beginning of the pandemic, the CPI rose by only 0.9%.

During March 2021, prices rose in 5 of the 8 index components, with the largest increases recorded for the cost of transportation and shelter. More details of the inflation picture for the month can be found in the April release of the Consumer Price Index, which is available on the StatsCan website at https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/210421/dq210421a-eng.htm?HPA=1&indid=3665-1&indgeo=0.