Introduction

Welcome to my blog!

I’m a Chartered Accountant based in Vancouver, BC with over 15 years of providing accounting, tax and financial planning services to doctors, dentists, lawyers, and other business professionals.  I like to think that I have learned a thing or two over the years, and I want to share some of that information.  I can’t promise that this blog will be exciting (remember, I am an accountant), but I hope that you will find it useful.  I encourage you to leave comments.  Please let me know what topics interest you, so that I can address them in future posts.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , ,

Income Splitting With A Professional Corporation Can Save You Thousands

Income splitting with wages can save you thousands of dollars. Income splitting with dividends from a professional corporation can save you tens, even hundreds, of thousands of dollars.

My last post explained how income splitting works. In this post, I am going to provide examples of the benefits of income splitting.

Continue reading

Posted in Architects, Business Professionals, Businesses, Chiropractors, Dentists, Doctors, Engineers, Health Professionals, Income Tax, Incorporation, Lawyers, Medical Residents, Mortgage Brokers, Optometrists, Professional Corporation, Realtors, Veterinarians | Tagged | 5 Comments

BCMA CPRSP Deadline – January 21, 2013

The deadline to make an RRSP contribution for a deduction on your 2012 personal income tax return is March 1, 2013. However, the deadline to submit your claim for a CPRSP payment to be deposited to your RRSP by March 1 is January 21, 2013. The BCMA will still review and process claims received after January 21, but cannot guarantee that the CPRSP payment will be available as an RRSP deduction for 2012.

If you have any questions on claiming your CPRSP entitlement or would like more information, please contact me.

John Moore, accountant for doctors, dentists, lawyers and other business professionals, Vancouver, British Columbia

Related Posts

Posted in Doctors | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Transition to Practice Workshop for BC Medical Residents

I just conducted a workshop for the Professional Association of Residents of British Columbia (PAR-BC) on transitioning to practice for medical residents.

We covered a range of topics including:

    • Professional and Personal Registration
    • Practice Alternatives
    • Business of Medicine
    • Income Tax Considerations
    • Incorporation

I have included a link to the detailed notes from the workshop:

Medical Residents Transition to Practice Nov 2012

Thanks to everyone that attended.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

John Moore, accountant for doctors, dentists, lawyers and other business professionals, Vancouver, British Columbia

Posted in Medical Residents | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Incorporation Benefit – Income Splitting

In my ongoing series on professional incorporation, I’ve discussed what a professional corporation is (a distinct legal entity) and which professions allow incorporation (doctors, dentists, lawyers and realtors among many others).

I’ve shown how the lower corporate tax rates can assist a professional in a practice or equipment acquisition and help retire business debt faster.

And I’ve shown how salary and dividends paid by a company, although treated differently for income tax purposes, combine to put a professional in the same position as if they had earned the income directly themselves.

But if that’s the case, unless you have large non-deductible expenditures, incorporation doesn’t appear very helpful.

Income Splitting

Income splitting is the shifting of income from a high income person to a lower income person to reduce overall income taxes. Because income is taxed progressively, a lower income person has unused tax brackets if their income is below the highest tax threshold of $132,000. Income splitting utilizes these unused tax brackets. Continue reading

Posted in Architects, Business Professionals, Businesses, Chiropractors, Dentists, Doctors, Engineers, Health Professionals, Income Tax, Incorporation, Lawyers, Medical Residents, Mortgage Brokers, Optometrists, Professional Corporation, Realtors, Veterinarians | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Incorporation – Taxation of Salary and Dividends

In my last post, I discussed the lower tax rates on professional income earned in a corporation.

In BC, any professional income that you earn personally in excess of $132,000 is taxed at 43.7%.  In a professional corporation, the first $500,000 of that income is only taxed at 13.5%.  That’s a difference of over 30%.

Sounds pretty good to me. Lower tax rate means less tax. Less tax means more money. More money means….

If only it were that simple.

That money belongs to the company, not you. Somehow you have to get it out of your corporation so that you can use it. Continue reading

Posted in Architects, Business Professionals, Businesses, Chiropractors, Dentists, Doctors, Engineers, Health Professionals, Income Tax, Incorporation, Lawyers, Medical Residents, Mortgage Brokers, Optometrists, Professional Corporation, Realtors, Veterinarians | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

2012 BCMA CPRSP Entitlement

The British Columbia Medical Association (BCMA) has recently released the 2012 entitlement amounts for the Contributory Professional Retirement Savings Plan (CPRSP). If you are an eligible physician in British Columbia, you should have received notification of your entitlement.

The BCMA will have emailed your notification if it has an email address on file. Otherwise, you should have received the information in the mail.  If you haven’t received anything, you should check your online account with the BCMA or contact the BCMA directly. Continue reading

Posted in Doctors | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Incorporation Benefit – Lower Income Tax Rates

As I noted previously, there are several benefits to incorporating your practice.

One of the greatest advantages of a professional corporation is access to lower income tax rates.

In Canada, we have a progressive tax system.  As you earn more personally, your income is taxed at progressively higher rates. Only income within each tax bracket is taxed at the applicable rate.

The tax rates and brackets for British Columbia are as follows:

2012 BC Personal Tax Rates

As you can see, various types of income are taxed at different rates. For the time being, I am only concerned with the basic tax rates for “regular income” such as employment and business/professional income.  I’ll discuss the tax advantaged rates on the other forms of income in later posts.

Continue reading

Posted in Architects, Business Professionals, Businesses, Chiropractors, Dentists, Doctors, Engineers, Health Professionals, Income Tax, Incorporation, Lawyers, Medical Residents, Mortgage Brokers, Optometrists, Professional Corporation, Realtors, Uncategorized, Veterinarians | Tagged | Leave a comment

Professional Corporations – Why Incorporate?

In my last post, I discussed which professions can incorporate in British Columbia.

But why would you want to incorporate your practice?

Because the other doctors or dentists in your clinic have incorporated, or the other lawyers in your office have their own professional corporations? Because your accountant / lawyer / investment advisor / golf buddy told you to?

I hate to admit it, but when dealing with my kids I’ve often pulled out my parents’ (and everyone else’s) standard saying:

“If your friend jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?”

And the infuriating response I usually get (in addition to my wife’s roll of her eyes) is:

“Maybe – it depends.”

But they’re right.  You should understand why you are doing something before actually undertaking it.

Continue reading

Posted in Architects, Business Professionals, Businesses, Chiropractors, Dentists, Doctors, Engineers, Health Professionals, Income Tax, Incorporation, Lawyers, Medical Residents, Mortgage Brokers, Optometrists, Professional Corporation, Realtors, Veterinarians | 1 Comment

Professional Corporations in British Columbia

What is a professional corporation?

A corporation is a separate legal entity. It can earn income, enter into contracts, purchase real estate, investments and other property, and pay taxes.

There are two main types of companies in Canada. A public company generally has its shares listed on a stock exchange and anyone can invest in it. A private company is not publicly traded. Public and private companies have different income tax and accounting rules.

A professional corporation is a type of private corporation governed by provincial legislation and the rules and regulations of each profession’s governing body. These rules often include restrictions on who can own shares in the company, what the company can own and do, and even on what the company can be named. A common provision is that a professional is not protected from legal liability for malpractice and negligence even though practicing through a corporation.

Continue reading

Posted in Architects, Business Professionals, Chiropractors, Dentists, Doctors, Engineers, Health Professionals, Incorporation, Lawyers, Medical Residents, Mortgage Brokers, Optometrists, Professional Corporation, Realtors, Uncategorized, Veterinarians | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Incorporation – A Brief Introduction

INCORPORATION.

It’s a term that most business owners and professionals are familiar with. Almost everyone knows of someone who has incorporated, is thinking about it, has been told to do it, or wants nothing to do with it.

Over the years, I’ve heard so many comments and opinions on incorporation:

    • I’m not sure why I’m doing this – it’s something my accountant told me to do.
    • It’s too complicated and expensive.
    • My friend told me she uses her company to write off her car, trips, house, etc.
    • It’s great. I bought my cottage with the company.
    • It’s a scam.  In the end, you’ll get audited and be worse off.
    • I’m still paying a lot of tax. I don’t think it’s worth it.
    • Do I have to use a broker to buy and sell shares in my company?

I could go on and on….

There is a lot of confusion over incorporation, and it invites many questions:

    • What is incorporation?
    • Should I incorporate?  Why or why not?
    • When should I incorporate?
    • How can I incorporate?
    • I’ve got my company – now what?

I’ll be writing on these and many other topics related to incorporation over the next several weeks. Please feel free to comment and ask questions on the posts.

My focus will be on professional corporations in British Columbia, but most of the content will apply to other private incorporated businesses as well. Each province and territory has its own regulations and tax rates, so some of the situations I describe may not be relevant to your situation if you work outside of BC.

John Moore, accountant for doctors, dentists, lawyers and other business professionals, Vancouver, British Columbia

Posted in Architects, Business Professionals, Chiropractors, Dentists, Doctors, Engineers, Health Professionals, Incorporation, Lawyers, Medical Residents, Mortgage Brokers, Optometrists, Professional Corporation, Realtors, Veterinarians | Tagged | 2 Comments

Incorporation for Physicians – Information for Medical Residents and Doctors

Incorporation is a term most physicians and other professionals are familiar with, but may not fully understand.

Almost every physician knows someone who has incorporated, is thinking about incorporation, or has been advised to incorporate.

But what is incorporation?

Why incorporate?

When?

I recently answered these and other questions at an incorporation seminar for the Professional Association of Residents of British Columbia (PAR-BC).

I have included a link to the detailed notes from the session:

INCORPORATION FOR PHYSICIANS

After the summer I will be posting a series on incorporation for doctors, dentists, lawyers and other professionals. The above notes are a good starting point, but I’ll be exploring the issues in more depth in this blog.

If you have any questions, please contact me. You may also want to consider joining the Tax and Financial Planning for Medical Residents and New Doctors (Canada) or Tax and Financial Planning for Doctors (Canada) discussion groups on LinkedIn. The groups are open to all medical residents and physicians and provide the opportunity to ask financial questions and share your experiences with others.

John Moore, accountant for doctors, dentists, lawyers and other business professionals, Vancouver, British Columbia

Posted in Doctors, Health Professionals, Income Tax, Incorporation, Medical Residents | Tagged , | Leave a comment

BCMA T4A Slip and Income Tax Returns

It’s tax time, and I’ve been getting lots of questions from doctors about their T4A slips.

Each year the British Columbia Medical Association (BCMA) issues T4A slips to physicians who have participated in the benefit programs administered by the BCMA.

These benefit programs include:

The T4A will show an amount in Box 28 – Other Income which you must report in your personal income tax return. The reverse side of the T4A has a breakdown of the amounts reported for each program that you participated in.

The T4A slip can be reported in two ways.  Continue reading

Posted in Doctors, Health Professionals, Income Tax, Medical Residents | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Dealing With Debt – Medical Residents

Debt is an issue faced by most at some point – governments, businesses and individuals including, of course, medical students and residents.

Becoming a doctor is an expensive venture, but it is an investment in yourself which will pay you many times over in the future.

Each resident is in a different situation. Some may have completed medical school with little or no debt. But for those with debt, the question is how best to manage it through residency and beyond. Some will reduce their debt during residency while others will maintain or even increase it.

Continue reading

Posted in Medical Residents | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

BC Physicians – CPRSP and Pension Plan Contributions

The Contributory Professional Savings Plan (CPRSP) helps fund retirement for BC physicians by funding Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) and Individual Pension Plan (IPP) contributions. Proof of matching physician contributions to an RRSP or IPP is required before the benefit will be paid.

I recently learned that a physician’s contribution to a Registered Pension Plan (RPP) also qualifies as a matching contribution. 

Continue reading

Posted in Doctors, Health Professionals | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

2011 BC Personal Income Tax Calculator

I have a confession. I don’t know much about programming. Why would I? I’m an accountant. I know about spreadsheets and taxes and financial planning. Not programming.

Thanks to Microsoft Office Web Apps, I don’t need to be a programmer. I can use spreadsheets that I created in Excel right on my web pages. Continue reading

Posted in Income Tax, Technology | Tagged , , | 1 Comment