Summary of Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan & HVGP LLP Temporary Office Closure
HVGP LLP Temporary Office Closure
At HVGP LLP, our main priority is the health and well-being of our employees, our clients and our community. With that in mind, we want to do our part to help “flatten the curve” and as a result, effective Wednesday, March 18th we will be temporarily closing our office. All HVGP LLP partners and employees will be working from home for the foreseeable future.
We want to ensure you that our teams have the necessary resources to enable each of our partners and our employees to work remotely and we are committed to our clients during these unprecedented times.
We want to hear from you
We always want to hear from our clients. That is the best way to understand their business and their specific situations. With the news changing at a record pace over the past week, we know that business owners are responsible not only for their business, but their employees, customers, suppliers and their families. There is a lot to think about.
We are here for you. Please give us a call with any questions you may have. We want to hear from you and offer any advice or help that we can provide. We have heard from several you over this past week and can offer some insight as to what other business owners are doing.
Every situation is unique and rather than giving you many different bullet points to read, a phone call goes a long way to helping navigate these uncertain times.
Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan: Support for Canadians and Businesses
The Government of Canada has introduced measures to help provide greater flexibility to Canadians who may be experiencing hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic. Full details can be found here. Included in these measures are the following:
Tax Filing Dates
- Individuals – extended to June 1, 2020
- Trusts – extended to May 1, 2020 (for December 31, 2019 year-ends)Temporary Income Support for Workers and Parents
- Waiving the waiting period on employment insurance (EI) benefits and the requirement to provide medical certificate to access EI sickness benefits
- Introducing the ‘Emergency Care Benefit’ to provide 15 weeks of support for workers that don’t otherwise qualify for employment insurance benefits that are quarantined with COVID-19, caring for a family member who has COVID-19, or parents with children who require care and are unable to earn employment income, irrespective if they qualify for EI benefitsLonger-Term Income Support for Workers
- Introducing the ‘Emergency Support Benefit’ delivered through the Canada Revenue Agency to support workers who are not eligible for employment insurance (EI) and who are facing unemployment
- Implementing the EI Work Sharing Program, which provides EI benefits to workers who agree to reduce their normal working hoursSupport for Businesses
- Providing additional support to exporters through the Canada Account administered by the EDC
- Introducing a Temporary Wage Subsidy for a period of three months available to eligible small employers equal to 10% of remuneration paid (maximums apply)
- Temporary suspension of contacting any small or medium (SME) businesses to initiate any post assessment GST/HST or Income Tax audits for the next four weeksEnsuring Businesses Have Access to Credit
- The Business Credit Availability Program (BCAP) will allow the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) and Export Development Canada (EDC) to provide more than $10 billion of additional support to small and medium-sized businesses.Other measures include a GST credit for low-income Canadians, a six-month moratorium on student loan repayments, enhanced Canada Child Benefit payments and reduced Registered Retirement Income Fund minimum withdrawal amounts.
Deferring Tax Payments
Applicable to individuals, trusts, and corporations, the Canada Revenue Agency will allow all taxpayers to defer, until after August 31, 2020, the payment of any income tax amount that becomes owing on or after today and before September 2020. This relief applies to any tax balances due, as well as instalments.
In addition to the economic package put together by the federal government, Canada’s big banks have also introduced measures to provide financial breathing room to customers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The big six banks will allow customers to defer mortgage payments for up to six months.
We will continue to provide updates as they become available and support you as we always have.
Please take care of yourself and your families.
If you have questions please contact us at 905-891-5339.
