9 Ways the 2016 Federal Budget Could Affect Your Business
The Trudeau government’s first budget contained a shock on the small business tax rate, and some smaller let-offs
by Murad Hemmadi for ProfitGuide
When Bill Morneau rose to deliver his first budget speech as Finance Minister in Justin Trudeau’s new federal government, entrepreneurs and the owners of Canada’s small- and medium-sized businesses held their breath.
Concerns over the small business tax deduction, stock options for startup employees and capital gains exemptions made this a crucial policy document for SMBs. Here’s what the 2016 federal budget will do and change, and what that means for you and your business.
1. Small Business Tax Rate Frozen
Companies that meet the criteria for a Canadian-Controlled Private Corporation (CPCC) pay a reduced effective rate on their first $500,000 of active business income. In last year’s budget, the then-Conservative government proposed to drop that rate in increments from 11% at the time to 9% by 2019.
As of January 1, 2016, the small business rate was 10.5%, and the 2016 budget “proposes that further reductions in the small business income tax rate be deferred.” In effect, that means the rate will stay where it is today until the government decides otherwise.
Taxation of Life Insurance – New Rules Offer a Window of Opportunity
Permanent life insurance, such as Whole Life or Universal Life, has long been accepted as a tax efficient way of accumulating cash for future needs. Soon the amount of funds that can be tax sheltered within a life insurance policy will be reduced by new tax rules which take effect January 1, 2017. These changes may make 2016 the best year to buy cash value life insurance.
The changes to the tax rules regarding life insurance have resulted in an update to the “exempt test” which measures how much cash value can accumulate in a policy before it becomes subject to income tax.
Highlights of the new rules and their effect
For Cash Value Life Insurance: Read more 
Changes to the Taxation of Estates
Estate, trust and tax planners have long favoured testamentary trusts as vehicles to pass along assets to beneficiaries or heirs. A testamentary trust is generally a trust or estate that is created the day a person dies. Commonly, these trusts are established in a testator’s will.
A significant benefit to testamentary trusts had been that income earned and retained in the trust received the same graduated rate of income tax as an individual tax payer. Unfortunately, under the terms of Bill C-43, after January 1, 2016, all income retained in the trust will now be taxed at the highest rate of tax applicable in the province in which the trust is resident.
There will be two exceptions to this new rule – The Graduated Rate Estate (GRE) and a Qualified Disability Trust (QDT). Read more
Shield Insurance Proceeds from U.S. Estate Tax
Life insurance can play an important role in estate planning. But complexities arise for those subject to U.S. estate tax.
While life insurance proceeds are generally not taxable in the hands of a beneficiary, U.S. law includes the value of life insurance in the gross estate of the deceased if he or she owned the policy. Factors used to determine ownership include who can cancel or make changes to the policy’s terms, who is paying the premiums, and who can leverage the policy for investment purposes.
If a client has life insurance in her taxable estate, it can mean paying U.S. estate tax when none would otherwise be due. Consider an example of an unmarried U.S. citizen with a net worth of $5 million in real estate and investments. If that person were to add a $1-million life insurance policy, its inclusion in the gross estate would push the estate’s value beyond the current exclusion amount, and result in approximately $264,000 in tax. Here’s why, and what you can do about it.
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