Roxanne Arnal, Optometrist and Certified Financial Planner© has made her article available in audio format.

Click the play button below to listen.

 

Dr. Roxanne Arnal, CFP^®

The Canadian Tax system is one of the most complicated in the world, so it’s no surprise that several tax terms used may feel unfamiliar and confusing to you.

We’ll start with some of the basics of personal taxation, more specifically tax rates. Personal tax rates in Canada are banded which means you will pay a different percentage of tax on different amounts of your income dollars. Let’s break it down –

Federal Marginal Tax Rates (Federal MTR)

At the time of writing, the federal tax rate on your first $49,020 of taxable income is 15% which means for every $1 of income you earn, you pay 15 cents in federal tax (excluding deductions but we’ll get there!). Band two (income between $49,021-$98,040) increases to 20.5% tax rate which means you will pay an extra 5.5 cents per dollar earned in tax! At the highest level of federal tax every dollar amount earned over $216,512 is taxed at 33%.

Provincial Marginal Tax Rate (Provincial MTR)

This works much the same as the federal MTR, but many provinces and territories in Canada use different income cut offs. For example, if you earned $100,000 depending on your province this would place you in the 11.16% MTR for Ontario, the 10.00% MTR for Alberta, and a whopping 17.5% MRT for Nova Scotia. Curious based on your existing income level? Here’s a super handy chart (LINK MACKENZIE Form)

Combined Marginal Tax Rate (Combined MTR)

Based on the above example, if you earn $100,000 while living in Ontario, your combined marginal tax rate would be 37.16%.

Average Tax Rate (ATR)

This describes the overall average amount of tax you pay. Because of banding and in recognition that higher dollars are subject to higher amounts of taxation, your average tax rate will be less than your MTR. What’s your ATR on $100,000 of earned income? Hold tight, we’re getting there.

Deductions

To make this just a little more confusing, there is also a myriad of tax credits and deductions. These too can be very different federally, and by each province. The basic personal exemption that applies to nearly every tax paying Canadian, for 2021, means you won’t pay any federal tax on the first $13,808 you earn and you won’t pay Ontario provincial tax on the first $10,880. But remember, I said “nearly”. There are exceptions to most of the rules. Federally, the basic personal exemption is subject to a gradual reduction for those earning over $151,978, until it reaches only $12,421 at an income level of $216,511. And then there are different rules provincially. See what I mean by complicated!

An Ontario Example

For illustrative purposes, we are going to assume you earn $100,000 of employment income in Ontario. This table illustrates the actual tax rates from both the federal and Ontario Governments and total tax dollars that apply to each band.

At $100,000 of income, your combined MTR is 37.16% while your average tax rate is 22.8%, or $22,798/$100,000.

A Few Other Notes

There are a large number of federal and provincial tax credits and personal deductions that may apply to you and I encourage you to become at least somewhat familiar with them. Some of the more common ones include: childcare expenses, RRSP deductions, disability tax credits, professional dues deductions, moving expenses, charitable donations, the list goes on and on. You can find these easily on government websites and are not included in our above example.

Why Does it Matter

Knowing your MTR is key to understanding how best to strategize your investments (for example your TFSA, RRSP and non-registered savings contributions), amongst other financial planning components to help support your overall wealth creation and minimize taxation. MTR is used to describe how much income tax you are going to pay on your next dollar of taxable income.

Understanding your ATR will help you plan your cash flow. As per the above example, after income taxes, you have $77,201.35 to spend on your debt repayment, housing, savings, expenses and entertainment.

Have more questions than answers? Educating you is just one piece of being your personal CFO that I offer. Call or email today to start your plan.

These articles are for information purposes only and are not a replacement for personal financial planning. Everyone’s circumstances and needs are different. The values provided here are subject to change and should not be construed as fact. Errors and Omissions exempt.

Federal Link: All deductions, credits, and expenses – Personal income tax – Canada.ca

Roxanne Arnal, Optometrist and Certified Financial Planner© has made her article available in audio format.

Click the play button below to listen.

Dr. Roxanne Arnal, CFP^®

The age-old question for corporation owners. Do I take salary or dividends?

First off, congratulations – you are earning enough money in your corporation to pay yourself! If you started your business cold, this is a day to celebrate. If you are fortunate enough to have sufficient profits to support your lifestyle, you are now asking one of the most common tax questions.

And the answer…it depends.

RRSP Contribution Room

The tax deferral benefit of a Registered Retirement Savings Plan is greatest when you expect to be in a lower tax bracket in retirement than the one you are currently in. This isn’t an easy calculation, because you also have to remember that retirement income is not all taxable, and actually, some forms of retirement income can have a greater negative effect than others [think Old Age Security (OAS) Clawback]. And, we really don’t know what the tax rates will be like in the future.

In order to deposit to an RRSP and defer taxation, you need to create RRSP contribution room. RRSP contribution room is created through earned income. Dividends and capital gain sources of revenue are NOT earned income and therefore do not create RRSP contribution room.

There is also an annual cap on the amount of new contribution room you can create in any one year. For 2021, this cap is $27,830, which corresponds to earned income of $154,611.

If you take dividends however, you will not create any RRSP contribution room. And, for good tax and retirement planning, I don’t recommend an all or nothing strategy for any client.

CPP Contributions

The Canada Pension Plan forms part of the basic framework of the Canadian retiree social system. It is designed, along with OAS, to provide Seniors with a base living allowance. I typically use this base as the safety net for my retirees. Everyone, even my super high net worth clients, like having a safety net.

CPP won’t likely make up a large part of your retirement income, but the program also has disability benefits that kick in for those that suffer severe and long-term disabilities preventing gainful employment. An additional top up to your personal income replacement plan.

Salaried income is subject to CPP contributions. For self-employed individuals, you are essentially paying both the employer and employee portions. For 2021, this rate is 5.45% for each side, for a total of 9.9%. I know this sounds like a nearly 10% additional tax hit, but there is a cap on this amount. For salary earned above $61,600, no further CPP contributions are required. Hence, for a salary at the RRSP contribution maximum, CPP accounts for just over 4%.

 Ideal Split

In all reality, most clients benefit from a split between salary and dividend income from their corporations. Finding the right balance between excess lifestyle withdrawals for additional investing vs corporate investing needs to be reviewed on an ongoing basis.

Where lifestyle needs exceed the after-tax income created from an RRSP contribution maximum, $154,611, then I always recommend you pull the excess as dividends.

Let’s look at an example

Say you need $10,000 a month of spendable cash to cover off your mortgage, student loan payments, property taxes, utilities, groceries, and a little fun.

In Summary

There are several factors to consider on a salary or dividend split for those owning professional corporations. Part of it involves a conversation around your goals and retirement dreams. As a family CFO, I review all aspects of these decisions with my clients and work toward creating plans that meet your desires today and your dreams tomorrow.

This article should not be construed as personal financial advice.