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Monthly Archives December 2013

Employee Benefits – Some Tips and Traps

Posted in category Tax Planning

Employee Benefits – Some Tips and Traps

The question of what items provided to an employee by an employer often arises.  Below we have listed (please note this is not an all inclusive list) a number of items which may or may not have to be included on an employee’s T4 and taxed by the government.  Always remember to read the fine print!!!  You should remember that if the items are a taxable benefit then they may impact the company portion of other payroll taxes such as CPP, EI, EHT and/or WSIB.

Christmas parties and other special events

Did you provide your employees with a Christmas party this year? In general, no taxable benefit will have to be reported for social events that are made available to all employees, provided the cost per employee is $100 or less...

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Planning an Exit Strategy – Employee Considerations

Posted in category Succession Planning

Some areas of importance that should be considered when selling your business are those involving the key employees and “non-key” employees that work for you in your business.  Sometimes business owners only focus on the past financial profits when considering the sale of their business.  They should always remember that a purchaser will look beyond the numbers and want to review who works for the business.  Remember the purchaser will be inheriting most of the employees – good and bad….  Consider the following:

  • Are there any “problem employees” that a purchaser will not wish to hire?
  • Will some of the employees become redundant and need to be let go?
  • Are there key employees that a purchaser will be depending on after the sale takes place?

A private business owner needs to pre...

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Shareholders’ Agreements – Why Bother When Everyone Gets Along?

Posted in category Succession Planning

I came across this article on a lawyer’s website in BC that discusses shareholders’ agreements and the importance of having one – the link is http://www.magellanlaw.ca/article-shareholders-agreement/.  It is a good read that summarizes what such an agreement consists of and why it is important.

I wholeheartedly agree that the time to put one in place is when the business begins and everyone is getting along.  This is even true in situations where a private company is passing on ownership to the next generation and there are multiple shareholders of a company (where mom and dad used to be the only shareholders).  A shareholders’ agreement should be reviewed and/or revised at the time a succession or estate plan is being worked on...

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