Maybe your business has been struggling since the 2008-2009 financial crisis, or better yet, maybe the business has become more profitable every year since due to better management practices and branding. Despite progress or track record, maybe your finding that the relationships between the two or more shareholders involved in your business are strained, and this could be for various reasons. For example, one shareholder may not be pulling their weight because of personal issues while another ... Read More
Bad Business Breakup Around the Corner?
Bad Business Breakup Around the Corner?
Business partnerships are never easy and can fail in both times of prosperity and times of strife. There are many reasons for breakup: bad financial results, good financial results, personality differences, lack of trust, conflicting visions, etc. Often, the knowledge of an impending breakup precedes the actual breakup by months, if not years. In the meantime, if lack of trust develops, the emotional ... Read MoreReality Hits on the First Day of Business Possession
Reality Hits on the First Day of Business Possession
The first few months after the successful acquisition of an existing business can be daunting. The opportunity and the excitement of steering the new “purchase” into your vision can be overshadowed quickly by the reality of running a business. Marketing, human resources, and of course, financial decisions will have to be made as soon as the first day of the business' operations begin. For many ... Read MoreTax Tips for Vancouver Female Small Business Owners – Creating a Strong Brand is Vital to Success
I am a Chartered Accountant at Mew & Company - I have had my own accounting firm located in Downtown Vancouver for almost 15 years now. I was recently inspired by a conversation I had with a new client which I want to share with all the women business owners in Vancouver, BC. My new client is an energetic and enterprising entrepreneur. Her business has been expanding in a very challenging industry. Without being prompted by me, her reasoning for the continual expansion was to successfully ... Read More
Vancouver Tax Tips: Business Expenses With Best ROI
Pre-requisite Expenditures For Business Success!
Professional Vancouver Chartered Accountants have the privilege of seeing the detailed financial information of many profitable and sometimes not so profitable businesses. First and foremost, in order to be profitable, you need to be in an industry whose products and services are in demand. For example, the best TV repair guy cannot survive today regardless of the strength of his marketing efforts. Competition, however, is high in ... Read MoreFiling Canadian Corporate Tax and HST Returns on Time
Just File Your Canadian Tax Return on Time! During the past year, I have noticed that Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) is putting more pressure on Canadian corporations to file their corporate tax and HST returns on time. The tactics being used by CRA include constant reminder notices being sent soon after the filing deadline has passed as well as withholding HST and/or corporate tax refunds until all of the business' filings are current. As a Vancouver chartered accountant, I don’t mind the ... Read More
B.C. Business Income vs. Capital Gains – It’s All About Intention
Mew & Company Chartered Accountants in Vancouver provides businesses with tax advice: One of the most commonly disputed tax issues is whether a gain from a transaction is considered as business income or as a capital gain. The reason for this dispute is due to the tax implications of each type of gain we're talking about. If a gain is considered business income, the entire gain is taxable. If a gain is considered a capital gain, only half of the amount is taxable. Therefore for any gain, ... Read More
Vancouver Tax Considerations for Buying a Business in British Columbia
If you are in the initial stage of negotiating the purchase of an incorporated business in British Columbia (B.C.), this is a good time to consider the method you choose to go about the acquisition. There are two methods to acquire a business: you either buy the desired assets of the company, or you buy the shares of the company. Each method has different business tax consequences for the seller and the purchaser, so knowledge of the different tax treatments can provide the purchaser with room ... Read More
Vancouver Corporate Reorganization and Tax Planning
Corporate reorganization involving the exchange of shares is a very powerful and versatile tax planning tool. The simplest and most common corporate reorganization method involves the shareholder of a corporation exchanging all of his/her shares in one class of existing shares, for shares of another authorized class. The primary focus of the share exchange is the “freezing” of the current fair market value of the shares given up by the shareholder, who is referred to as the "transferor". In ... Read More
The Quick Method for B.C. Consultants and Other Professionals – Why It Makes Sense
In British Columbia, a service business with total sales of $200,000 or less, inclusive of HST, qualifies to use the Quick Method of remitting HST to Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). In general, the Quick Method allows a business that provides taxable services to collect the 12% HST as required under the Excise Tax Act but remit a lower rate to CRA. The trade off is that the business is not entitled to claim Input Tax Credit (ITC) on its expenses when remitting the HST collected. However, the ... Read More
