Changes to the Temporary Flat-rate Method for Home Office Expenses
If you worked more than 50% of the time from home for a period of at least four (4) consecutive weeks in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, you are eligible to use the flat-rate method for claiming office expenses. You can claim $2 for each day you worked from home during that period plus any additional days you worked at home in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The maximum you can claim using the temporary flat rate method has increased to $500 (250 working days) per individual.
Government Benefit Payments Related to COVID-19
If you received federal, provincial, or territorial government COVID-19 benefit payments, such as the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB), Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB), or Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB), you will receive a T4A slip with instructions on how to report these amounts on your return. These slips are also available in My Account for individuals.
If you are self-employed and received federal, provincial, or territorial government COVID-19 assistance for your business, you must include these amounts in your business income or reduce your expenses by the amounts you received. If you received a government loan, the loan is not taxable, but you have to include in your business income any portion of the loan that is forgivable.
Federal COVID-19 Benefits Repayment
If you repaid federal COVID-19 benefits (CERB, CESB, CRB, CRCB, or CRSB) in 2021 that you received in 2020, the amount repaid will be reported on your T4A slip or on your T4E slip along with other employment insurance (EI) amounts repaid. You can choose to claim a deduction on your return for the repayment in the year that the benefit was received or in the year that the benefit was repaid. You may also choose to split the deduction between these two returns as long as the total deduction is not more than the amount repaid.
Changes to CPP and OAS
The maximum pensionable earnings for the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) have increased to $64,900 in 2022, from $61,600 in 2021.Under Old Age Security (OAS), Canadians aged 65 and older can receive up to $642.25 per month. Beginning July 1st 2022, those aged 75 and over will see an automatic increase of 10% on their OAS pension.
Digital news subscription expenses
For the 2020 to 2024 tax years, you may be able to claim a non-refundable tax credit for expenses you paid in the year for a digital news subscription with a qualified Canadian journalism organization.
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