Audit-proof your side hustle + MORE Nov 29th

If you have joined the ranks of the self-employed, you’re in good company: According to Statistics Canada, 2.9 million Canadians run their own business. That’s 15% of the population, and the number is growing. Don’t forget, though, that with your new status comes a new relationship with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). To make it a happy one, you’ll need to keep good records, and you should be ready to make a number of periodic remittances throughout the year. From GST/HST to payroll remittances for staff (such as Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions and Employment Insurance (EI) premiums), to your own income tax payments, the burden of proof is always on you to self-assess what’s owing—and do so with precision. Here is a primer on your responsibilities.
File on time
It is your obligation to file a tax return on time each year, and for most people that deadline is April 30. Unincorporated proprietors have until June 15; but there is a catch. If you owe money to the CRA, you’ll be charged interest after April 30, so it’s always best to file by the normal tax filing due dates…

Q. My husband and I, both in our early 40s, bought a house in Toronto four years ago. Since then, our variable rate mortgage has gone up four times and is now at 3.2%.
We have managed to pay down $150,000 of our mortgage in those four years with the extra bi-weekly payments and have $260,000 remaining. My husband would like to stop the extra payments and instead use that money to put towards a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) as his son heads to university in four years. I think the money is better spent on paying down the mortgage, which, at our current rate, would be fully paid off in six years, freeing up a lot of cash flow to assist with university costs; I’m also thinking we could take out a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) at that time, if necessary. As interest rates keep rising I think getting the mortgage paid off as quickly as possible is the best choice. What are your thoughts?
–Caitlin
A. Caitlin, you and your husband have been diligently paying down your mortgage with amazing speed…

Update, November 27, 2019: 
Apply for a Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card by December 31, 2019 and receive a $75 e-Gift Card from RateSupermarket.ca when your application is approved.  
 
Looking to earn cash back on your daily expenditures? Don’t want to pay an annual fee? Enter the Tangerine Money-Back credit card – one of the most popular cash back credit cards on the market. 
Instead of having set categories to earn extra cash back, the Tangerine Money-Back credit card allows you to choose up to three categories to earn extra rewards. Let’s take a look at what else this card has to offer. 
Sign Up Bonus: Average 
The Tangerine Money-Back credit card offers a promotional earn rate of 4% cash back in up to three chosen Money-Back Rewards categories for the first three months of cardmembership. Access two categories right away and if you set up your cash back to be automatically deposited into a Tangerine Savings Account, you can select a third category that will be eligible for the promotional interest rate…