Ontario Fall Economic Update: Small Businesses Get Tax Cut; Minimum Wage Hike Moves Forward + MORE Nov 23rd

OTTAWA _ The Liberals will create a new housing benefit to go directly to low-income tenants, spend billions to repair existing affordable housing units and find a way to build 100,000 more units as part of a housing strategy announced today.
The government says the portable housing benefit could help 300,000 households cumulatively between 2021 _ when the money is to start flowing _ and 2028.
A new financing program will be created for housing providers to help them repair aging units and use their assets to leverage additional cash to build new apartments and homes.
The $15.9 billion housing fund will create 60,000 new affordable housing units, repair 240,000 more through grants and loans and prioritize mixed-income developments.
The document also says the government plans to create a federal housing advocate and legislate a right to housing, which will require regular reports to Parliament on federal efforts to ease the housing burden for hundreds of thousands of families.
Although the Liberals are touting some $40 billion in spending over the next decade, the math includes almost $10 billion in planned spending, repurposes $4…

The Ontario government recently published its Fall Economic Statement which outlined some new tax breaks for small businesses and further acknowledged its plans to increase the minimum wage in the new year.
Good news for small businesses
For businesses that earn less than $500,000, the corporate income tax rate will be lowered from 4.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent, making it the third highest rate in the country. Small businesses with less than 100 workers will also have access to $1,000 in tax credits if they hire young workers (aged 15 to 29) and another $1,000 if they employ young workers for at least six months.
Further tax credits will be given to businesses that bring on apprentices, and more trades can now access these credits, including hairstylists and cooks. In addition, vegetable and fruit producers will now receive $60 million in financial supports.
All of the hiring incentives and tax cuts will cost the provincial government about $500 million over the next three years.
Raising minimum wage despite opposition
Finance Minister Charles Sousa says the government is still moving forward with raising the minimum wage to $14 on January 1, and raising it again to $15 the following year…

Q. In the 1980s, I bought a number of bottles of wine that I kept in my cellar. I’ve now put this wine up for auction, and it will fetch over $10,000. However, I have no records of the original purchases, and no memory of what I paid for the wine, although it was certainly a lot less. How do I handle the reporting of capital gains on the sale of the wine? – Ken M.  Toronto

Hi, Ken. That’s a good question. For U.S.citizens, green card holders and those who are considered resident aliens under the U.S. Tax Code, sales from collectibles including bottles of wine are taxed a 28% capital gains rate, plus of course an additional 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax if you have a high income.

Assuming you live in Canada, you would receive credit for any taxes you pay to Canada Revenue Agency on the income. On the Canadian side, because the wine is listed as personal property, the original cost is assumed to be $1.000 (Cdn.). That would be your starting point.

Since Canadian taxpayers are required to keep books and records in order to determine their tax liability, you would need to find some sort of documentation to support a higher cost…