Further to the extension of COVID-19 related relief positions on certain employment benefits (relating to commuting, parking and home office equipment) discussed on January 4, 2022, additional changes were announced on January 17, 2022.
The positions will now be extended not only to December 31, 2021, but further to December 31, 2022.
For the parking relief, situations in which the employee has been given the option to work from home on a full-time basis due to the pandemic will be eligible.
On January 18, 2022, CRA released the 2021 versions of forms T2200s and T777s. Both forms are largely unchanged from the 2020 versions. The maximum claim under the temporary flat rate method remains $2 per day, but the cap has been increased to $500.
One new element is that instructions have been given such that employers can create their own T2200s, although strict guidelines must be met.
For the 2020 year, salary in each of four particular time periods had to be separately disclosed on T4 slips. The guidance for 2021 stated that this specialized reporting was only applicable to 2020, however, a recent CRA webinar indicated that it would be applicable to 2021 as well. CPA Canada was able to obtain clarification, finding that the comment in the webinar was erroneous, and that the specialized reporting would not be applicable for the 2021 year.
On January 14, 2022, CRA announced that they will not yet implement the new trust reporting rules. CRA states:
The legislation to support this proposed measure is pending. The CRA will administer the new reporting and filing requirements once there is supporting legislation that receives Royal Assent. The CRA will continue to administer the existing rules for trusts, under enacted legislation. The proposed beneficial ownership reporting requirements will not be part of the published 2021 T3 income tax return. This note will be updated when more information is available. You should not delay filing your 2021 T3 tax return.
On January 12, 2022 the government announced that the repayment deadline for CEBA loans to qualify for partial loan forgiveness is being extended from December 31, 2022, to December 31, 2023, for all eligible borrowers in good standing.
Repayment on or before the new deadline of December 31, 2023, will result in loan forgiveness of up to a third of the value of the loans (meaning up to $20,000).
The repayment deadline to qualify for partial forgiveness for CEBA-equivalent lending through the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund is also extended to December 31, 2023.