Christmas brides and grooms take heed – there may be no tax benefits to marriage before year end, but that may not be a good enough reason to postpone the big day!  Conjugal relationships—legal or common law—require the combining, reporting, and sharing of financial resources under provincial marital property laws and for certain provisions of [...]

Western Canadian shoppers enjoy holiday shopping the least and plan to spend less this year, according to Maritz Research’s annual holiday shopping poll. Only 16% of Western Canadians said they enjoyed holiday shopping, less than Quebeckers (17%), Atlantic Canadians (18%) and Ontarians (19%). Coincidentally, the survey found that the majority (56%) of Western Canadians have [...]

With barely a month to go before the end of the year, it is time to get your house in order. Herewith, your top 10 end-of-year tax tips: 1. Tax-loss selling This is the practice of selling investments that are in a loss position at year-end in order to offset capital gains elsewhere in your [...]

British Columbians support ways to mitigate the impact of the HST on the province’s restaurant and food services sector, according to a new poll by the B.C. Restaurants and Foodservices Association. The survey found 63% of British Columbians strongly oppose the HST, 64% favour exempting food in restaurants if HST proceeds and 64% of respondents [...]

Small businesses in B.C. were among the most confident about their business performance for the coming year, according to November’s business barometer index by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. B.C. had the third highest index score in the country at 72.9, below New Brunswick’s 73 and Newfoundland and Labrador’s 74.9. Canada’s average in November [...]

Concern that the province’s economy is worse now than it was three months ago is expected to reduce British Columbians’ spending this holiday season, according to a new RBC index. The RBC Canadian consumer outlook index found that B.C.’s residents are among the least optimistic about their local economy with 46% saying it’s worse now [...]