Personal Tax

The governments of Canada and most provinces did not pay Covid 19 benefits in 2022. Some individuals may have received retroactive benefits and or been required to repay benefits.

Anything received or repaid will be reported on a tax information slip – either a T4a or T4e. The slip you receive will depend on which government department processed the benefit/repayment.

The links below are all still available though some have been archived.

Covid benefit sites for information — be sure click through to the area you are interested in, and do not forget to review the FAQ’s:

https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/covid19-emergency-benefits.html

The government of Canada has introduced a web page to help you find benefits that may have applied to your situation (these benefits are no longer available but may apply to your last 2 years of filing):

https://benefitsfinder.services.gc.ca/hm?GoCTemplateCulture=en-CA

Benefits and their effect on taxes:

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/campaigns/covid-19-update.html

Working From Home

The Covid 19 work from home benefit has been extended to permit qualified employees to claim a deduction on their 2022 Income Tax Returns.

Many people are working from home due to Covid, and to allow for that, the federal government has expanded the allowable deductions for employees working from home. There is a simplified deduction that does not require any proof from your employer or receipts, and a more detailed deduction that does require you to provide proof of expenses (if requested) and a signed form from your employer.

We will review your records to determine the most beneficial method. To ensure you are eligible for the detailed method if we deem it more beneficial, we suggest you ask your employer to complete this form and give it to you for submission with your 2022 tax documents:

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/forms/t2200s.html

Business Tax

Canada – The government of Canada has a web page that includes links for both individual and business tax matters. They have removed benefits for Covid as all programs have ceased.

https://www.canada.ca/en/services/taxes.html

General notes for businesses on how Covid benefits are treated for tax purposes:

• CEWS/TEWS payroll subsidies for employers: These amounts will reduce your payroll costs and are counted as a reduction of expenses in your financial records.
• CEBA – business loans. https://ceba-cuec.ca/ Intended to assist businesses to cope in the pandemic. Application deadline for this program WAS March 31, 2021.
• CEBA loans were originally due December 31, 2022. IF you have received a letter stating you qualify for the extension then you will not incur any interest charges or require repayment until December 31, 2023, at which time the loan will convert to a regular business loan, with monthly repayments required beginning January 2024. If you did not receive notice from your bank of the extension then your loan is repayable beginning January 31, 2023 and converts to a regular loan, with interest. Your bank should have notified you of this one way or the other.
• OF NOTE – IF YOU QUALIFY FOR THE DEFERRAL: A portion of the CEBA loan is forgivable and does not need to be repaid – provided you are able to repay the remainder of the loan in full, by December 31, 2023. If you received $40,000 then $10,000 is forgivable, and if you received the full $60,000 then $20,000 is forgivable. The forgivable portion is taxable income that must be reported in the year the funds were received. If it happens that December 2023 rolls around and you are not able to repay the loan in full, then you no longer qualify to have a portion be forgivable, and you will have to repay the entire loan. In this case, you would already have paid tax on the portion assumed to be forgivable when you received the funds, and you would now be able to take a deduction for that same amount.