OUR OFFICE IS OPEN and we want to see you, however out of respect for our clients and employees we still have our door locked to limit the flow of people to avoid congestion within our front office.  Please call ahead to book an appointment at 250.286.0631 or knock on the door and someone will greet you.  As soon as we can accommodate you inside we will do so.

If you are dropping off documents and do not need to see us please do so through the mail slot to the left of the door.

We are still very much open for business, and our employees are continuing to work hard behind the lines to provide the accounting and tax services you require.   Where possible all client meetings will be done over the phone or electronically.  We have the capability to provide our clients with a secure portal through which to receive or share documents with us.  We also have the ability for all documents to be signed electronically; please see below for more details.

In response to the crippling of regular business practices the CRA has extended deadlines for filing and payment as follows:

Individuals

• Regular filing deadline has been extended to June 1^st, 2020
• The proprietorship deadline remains unchanged at June 15^th, 2020
• If you have a balance owing on your tax return (or are required to make installments) any payments that would have been due between now and September will be allowed to be deferred interest free until September 1^st, 2020

** Please note that for taxpayers expecting a refund, or for those who may be eligible for enhanced GST credits, or the Canada Child Benefit the Government recommends to file as soon as possible to ensure your entitlements are not delayed.  The Government has just newly announced that there will be no delay in benefits until September 30, 2020 even if returns are late filed.

Corporations

• For any corporation with a corporate tax filing deadline falling between March 18^th and June 1^st the deadline has been extended to June 1^st, 2020
• No extensions to filing deadlines have been announced for GST or payroll programs
• If you have a balance owing on your tax return (or are required to make installments) any payments that would have been due between now and September will be allowed to be deferred interest free until September 1st, 2020. This does not apply to GST or payroll.
• GST Payments due between March 27^th and June 30^th will be deferred until June 30^th, 2020

Government Benefit Programs:

• For individuals unable to work due to Covid-19 the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit will provide $500 a week for a period of up to 16 weeks between March 15^th and October 3, 2020. Please contact us for more details.
• For businesses the Government has announced a two payroll wage subsidies for eligible employers and employees:
  • The first subsidy will be equal to 10% of payroll to a maximum subsidy of $1,375 per employee or $25,000 per employer. This benefit will be available immediately through a reduction in your remittances of income tax withheld on employee remuneration. Eligible corporations are those that are eligible for the small business deduction as well as non-profit organizations and charities.
  • The second subsidy is a 75% wage subsidy of up to $847 per week (Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy). To be eligible an employer must show a 15% decline in revenue in March, of a 30% decline of revenue in April and May.  As of May 19^th this program has been extended to August 12, 2020.  The calculations for the subsidy and the restrictions are complex, please contact us for more information.
• The Government has implemented the Canadian Emergency Business Loan program. This program offers a $40,000 non-interest bearing loan that includes a forgivable component if the loan is paid back in full by  December 31, 2022.  The loan is available to eligible businesses (those with $20,000 of eligible payroll in 2020 or those that have a CRA business number, a business operating account at a participating financial institution, and eligible non-deferrable expenses between $40,000 and $1.5 million.   Please contact us for more details.
  • This loan now also available to sole proprietors.
• The CRA will also be temporarily suspending initiating post assessment reviews of GST / Income tax filings for four weeks. Additionally, any ongoing audits will be temporarily suspended for most businesses.

Trusts

• The filing deadline has been extended to May 1^st, 2020 for those trusts with a December 31, 2019 taxation year end
• If you have a balance owing on your tax return, any payments that would have been due between now and September will be allowed to be deferred interest free until September 1st, 2020

Getting your documents to us:

• Can be done through a secure portal that we can setup on your behalf (available to all clients). All we need is a valid email address.  It is required that all clients sign up to portal using their own individual email.  To initiate this process, we will be emailing all of our current clients for whom we have a valid email address to invite them to setup their own secure portal.  If you have not received an email, please contact us directly and we can setup this up for you.  Once a portal has been generated you can upload information securely and we can access it on your behalf.
• Via email to admin@moellermatthews.ca (for security reasons, the above method is preferred)
• Through our mail slot (located to the left of our front door);
• For larger items please call ahead or knock on our door for us to let you in the front so that you may leave your documents in the provided boxes in our reception area.

Obtaining signatures and getting documents to you:

All tax returns for Individual, Corporate and Trust clients require signature before we can file these on your behalf.

• Our secure portal allows for us to upload a full copy of your tax return so that you may view / print and access at any time
• Within the portal Docusign allows for required signatures to be obtained electronically through a simple verification process (it is simple, and we can walk you through this!)

To initiate this process, we will be emailing all of our current clients with valid emails to invite them to setup their own secure portal (this is the same portal through which clients can share data with us, noted above).  If you have not received an email, please contact us directly and we can setup this up for you.   It is required that all clients sign up to portal using their own individual email.

** Please note that the portal and Docusign is a stepped process, you need to accept the portal invite before we can upload your pages required to be signed.

• For the select few who cannot sign electronically please contact our office so that we can make other arrangements.

We will be doing our best to maintain a high level of service, while operating under modified work conditions that aim to keep our employees and the public safe.  We ask for patience as we roll out our portal and DocuSign service; once you have done this once it will be in place for future years.

Do not hesitate to contact us should you have questions, or if we can be of service.  We very much look forward to being able to interact in a more personable way in the near future.

Sincerely,

MOELLER MATTHEWS