This tax season, there's a new way to confirm authorized representatives using My Account or My Business Account. Whether you're an individual or a business, this easy, two-step digital process will help you protect your tax information and make authorizing new representatives more efficient and secure.

Every year, we send letters to eligible Canadians inviting them to auto-file their income tax and benefit returns over the telephone with the CRA's File my Return service.

Did you receive an invitation letter from us? If you did, you may be able to auto-file your return through a dedicated phone line. And the File my Return service is free!

Since April 30, 2022, falls on a Saturday, your clients’ return will be considered filed on time in either of the following situations:

• we receive it on or before May 2, 2022

• it is postmarked on or before May 2, 2022

Your clients have until June 15, 2022, to file their return if they or their spouse or common law-partner are self-employed.

How you value your cryptocurrencies depends on whether they are considered capital property or inventory. When cryptocurrencies are held as capital property, you must record and track the cost when you acquired them, so that you can accurately report any capital gains when you sell them.

If the cryptocurrencies are considered to be inventory, you can generally value it based on:

• the cost of each item in the inventory when it was acquired; or

• its fair market value at the end of the year.

If you received one or more emergency subsidies, the amounts you received are considered government assistance and are taxable. You must report the subsidies amounts on your income tax or information return for the tax year (fiscal period) in which you are considered to have received them. The wage and rent subsidies are generally considered to have been received on the last day of the claim period they relate to.

Due to ongoing challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, many Canadians are still working from home. That’s why the Government of Canada is extending the temporary flat rate method so that Canadians will continue to have a simpler way to deduct home office expenses for the 2021 tax year.

With the temporary flat rate method, eligible employees can claim a deduction of $2 for each day worked at home in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The maximum amount employees may claim using this method has been increased to $500 (it was $400 in the 2020 tax year) for the maximum of 250 working days (200 days in the 2020 tax year).

The eligibility criteria for the temporary flat rate and detailed methods remains the same for the 2021 tax year.

Employees who were not required to work from home in 2021, but who worked from home because their employer gave them the choice to do so, are still considered to have worked from home due to COVID-19.

Last year, Canadians filed almost 31 million income tax and benefit returns. Having the information you need on hand to file your return makes the filing process that much easier. We want to help you get ready, so you are in good shape when it comes time to file your return this year.

Here you will find information on filing options, COVID-19 benefits, and what’s new for this tax-filing season.

The tax-filing deadline for most individuals is April 30, 2022…

Mining is a process that uses computers or specialized hardware to confirm cryptocurrency transactions. A miner will group valid transactions into blocks and if these blocks are accepted by the corresponding cryptocurrency’s network, they become part of a public ledger on the blockchain.

At this point, the miner usually receives two types of payments in cryptocurrency. The first is income for the creation of a new cryptocurrency, and the second is a payment for the successful validation by the miner. Those who perform the mining processes are paid in the cryptocurrency that they are validating.

Mining may have tax implications. The income tax treatment for cryptocurrency miners is different depending on whether your mining activities are a personal activity (a hobby) or a business activity. This is decided on a case-by-case basis.

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Canada has remained committed to ensuring that Canadian businesses are supported financially as our economy recovers.

On December 22, 2021, the government announced a temporary expansion to the eligibility for the Local Lockdown Program to ensure Canadians are protected and businesses continue to receive the support they need as public health restrictions continue to be in place across the country.

These temporary changes will only be in effect from December 19, 2021, to February 12, 2022 (Periods 24 and 25). The application portals for Period 24 of the business subsidy programs open on February 7, 2022, at 6:00 am EST.

If you’re looking to avoid last-minute delays and waiting on the phone at tax time, then try our easy-to-use digital services! Through our digital services, you will be able to view your tax and benefit information, and update your Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) information ahead of time. By planning ahead, you will save time during tax season.