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Alberta

The Child Benefit You Got was Not an Error

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The Child Benefit You Got was Not an Error

So a lot of people are wondering why money showed up for the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) yesterday (May 20) when they normally don’t qualify.

The CCB “one-time payment” for COVID-19 relief is actually formula driven but it is created by adding $3,600 for each additional child (not $300)… you’ll see in a minute why this is.

Step 1 – Add up the number of children that were under 6 years old in 2018 and multiply by $6,639.00

Step 2 – Add up the number of children that were between 6 and 17 years of age in 2018 and multiply by $5,602.00

This is your normal ANNUAL Canada Child Benefit entitlement before reductions.

However, for your May 2020 payment only, the formula adds $3,600 per child to bring the numbers to $10,239 and $9,202 per child based on age respectively.

If you have less than $31,120 of adjusted household income, you will get the full $300 extra, congrats, no more math for you.

For the rest of you it gets interesting or complicated, depending how you view math.

Any amount of adjusted household income between $31,120 and $67,426 causes your ANNUAL entitled CCB to be reduced by the following:

  • 7% of the amount of household income if you have 1 child
  • 13.5% of the amount of household income if you have 2 children
  • 19% of the amount of household income if you have 3 children
  • 23% of the amount of household income if you have 4 children or more

This is called the “first reduction”.  The maximum amount of household income subject to the first reduction formula is $36,306 more than the base $31,120 (meaning an income of $65,976)

Those of you over this number, you are not done yet.

Any amount of adjusted household income over $67,426 causes your ANNUAL entitled CCB to be reduced by the following:

  • 3.2% of the amount of household income if you have 1 child
  • 5.7% of the amount of household income if you have 2 children
  • 8% of the amount of household income if you have 3 children
  • 9.5% of the amount of household income if you have 4 children or more

This is called the “second reduction”.  There is no maximum amount of household income subject to the second reduction formula.  You keep calculating until you hit zero.

For example.   If you have one school-aged child in 2018, and your adjusted household income is $100,000 the formula would be this:

NORMAL MONTHLY BENEFIT:

  • First reduction: 67,426-31,120 = $36,306 x 7% = $2,541.42
  • Second reduction: 100,000-67,426 = $32,574 x 3.2% = $1,042.37
  • 1 child: $5,602
  • $5,602.00 minus $2,541.42 = $3,060.58 minus $1,042.37 = $2,018.21
  • $2,978.21 divided by 12 = $168.18/month CCB as a Normal Benefit

COVID19 MAY 2020 BENEFIT:

  • The first two reduction steps are the same but that 1 child is $3,600 more
  • 1 child: $9,202
  • $9,202.00 minus $2,541.42 = $6,660.58 minus $1,042.37 = $5,618.21
  • $5,618.21 divided by 12 = $468.18/month CCB as a one-time Benefit  (an extra $300 like promised)

So yes… an extra $300 per child for those already getting the benefit already… but for those that were not getting it before, but filed in 2018… and had an eligible child… the formula is recalculated with the $3,600 ($300 per month) change, and so many more households in Canada will be seeing some sort of amount.

For example, the lowest amount possible to collect would be with one school-aged child ($9,202 formula).

  • Households that make up to $163,069 will receive the full $300 for this child.
  • Households between $163,069 and $275,569 will receive less than $300 on a sliding scale from the Second reduction.
  • Households over $275,569 in this scenario would receive zero.

So almost every household with eligible children in Canada will see something coming their way for the May benefit to help with the extra costs with no schools or dayhomes open.

Sincerely,
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Tax Nerds

CGL Strategic Business & Tax Advisors

 

 

 

 

 

CV of Cory G. Litzenberger, CPA, CMA, CFP, C.Mgr can be found here.

 

CEO | Director CGL Tax Professional Corporation With the Income Tax Act always by his side on his smart-phone, Cory has taken tax-nerd to a whole other level. His background in strategic planning, tax-efficient corporate reorganizations, business management, and financial planning bring a well-rounded approach to assist private corporations and their owners increase their wealth through the strategies that work best for them. An entrepreneur himself, Cory started CGL with the idea that he wanted to help clients adapt to the ever-changing tax and economic environment and increase their wealth through optimizing the use of tax legislation coupled with strategic business planning and financial analysis. His relaxed blue-collar approach in a traditionally white-collar industry can raise a few eyebrows, but in his own words: “People don’t pay me for my looks. My modeling career ended at birth.” More info: https://CGLtax.ca/Litzenberger-Cory.html

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Alberta

Alberta Sheriffs receiving additional officers and more powers with new funding

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Mike Ellis shakes hands with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith after being sworn into cabinet as minister of public safety in Edmonton, Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Alberta sheriffs will have expanded powers and play a bigger role in combating rural crime with new funding, the provincial government said Friday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

St. Paul, Alberta

The Alberta Sheriffs Branch will have expanded powers and play a bigger role in combating rural crime with new funding, the provincial government said Friday.

Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis said $27.3 million will go to new positions and for rural crime initiatives, including two plain clothes teams that will help RCMP with criminal surveillance.

The announcement comes as Alberta continues to mull over whether to create a provincial police service to replace the RCMP.

“There has been some misleading commentary about this investment in the Alberta sheriffs, namely that it’s the way of laying the groundwork for establishing a provincial police service by some other means,” Ellis said Friday in St. Paul, Alta., 200 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.

“I’d like to remind people that the provincial government hasn’t made any decision about an Alberta police service.”

Ellis said although the RCMP has its own surveillance teams, most of the efforts are focused on major investigations. He said the new sheriff teams will fill a gap by helping the RCMP detachments with local investigations.

“I’ve heard countless stories about home invasions being committed by prolific offenders or thefts from farms. Every property owner has the right to feel safe in their home and the right not to wake up and find their equipment gone or fuel siphoned from vehicles,” he said.

“These really are the type of cases that keep Albertans up at night.”

The sheriffs will also get funding to add 20 investigators to the Safer Communities and Neighbourhood unit, which uses civil enforcement to target problem properties where illegal activities take place.

There is also money for the Sheriff Highway Patrol to train and equip its members to help RCMP with emergencies and high-priority calls.

“We will provide all members of the Alberta sheriffs with full powers to arrest under the Criminal Code,” Ellis said.

“Some members of the sheriffs already have Criminal Code authorities, but we believe the public will be better served with consistency throughout this province.”

The head of the Alberta RCMP said he welcomes the additional help from the sheriffs.

“These additional resources for the Alberta Sheriffs will improve our combined ability to suppress criminal activity in rural Alberta,” said Deputy Commissioner Curtis Zablocki in a statement.

Farooq Sheikh, the chief of Alberta Sheriffs, called it a proud day.

“While our members have a visible presence in many functions they perform such as highway patrol, fish and wildlife enforcement, security in our provincial courts … the sheriffs perform a lot of important work to keep communities safe that’s outside of the public eye.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2023.

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Alberta

Finance Minister Travis Toews, Environment Minister Sonya Savage say won’t run again

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Alberta Finance Minister Travis Toews delivers the budget, in Edmonton, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023. Toews says he will not run in the upcoming provincial election. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

By Dean Bennett in Edmonton

Two Alberta government cabinet ministers announced Friday that they will not be seeking re-election.

Travis Toews, the province’s finance minister and the runner-up to Premier Danielle Smith in last fall’s United Conservative Party leadership race, is exiting politics. Environment Minister Sonya Savage also said she will not run in the expected May 29 provincial vote.

Toews, the legislature member for Grande Prairie-Wapiti in northwestern Alberta, ended months of speculation with his announcement. He said it was a recent decision and a difficult one for him and his wife, Kim.

“(There were) personal considerations, certainly family considerations and some business considerations,” Toews said in an interview. “When we added all of them up this seemed like the right decision for us. That was the impetus for it.”

He dismissed suggestions the decision was tied to his loss to Smith or to the party’s further shift to the right under her leadership.

“We have a big tent party. This United Conservative Party has a lot of diversity. All groups are very important,” he said.

“I’m fully committed to the party, to the movement, committed to the premier and committed to an election win this May.”

Toews was elected in 2019 for the UCP and was finance minister for all but a few months when he ran to replace former premier Jason Kenney as party leader, coming in second to Smith.

Savage, the member for Calgary North-West, announced her decision to quit provincial politics with a statement on Twitter, saying she wants to spend more time with her family. She said she looks forward to remaining a party member and wished the premier and her UCP colleagues success in the upcoming election.

In a statement, Smith said Toews has been “one of the strongest finance ministers in Alberta’s history and leaves a legacy of strong fiscal management that I will continue to uphold as premier.”

“I greatly respect his decision to spend more time on the ranch and with his family,” Smith said. “There will be big boots to fill in Grande Prairie-Wapiti, and I wish him, Kim and the family nothing but the very best.”

Smith said Savage will be greatly missed.

“Minister Sonya Savage’s dedication and commitment to furthering Alberta’s energy interests and developing a Made-in-Alberta approach to responsible environmental stewardship of our natural resources will benefit Albertans for decades,” she said in a statement.

Toews had refused to discuss his future in recent weeks, saying he was focused on passing the budget, which featured a projected $2.4-billion surplus along with increased spending across the board.

The decision comes a little over a month from when the writ is expected to drop.

Smith said that given the short window, she will work with the party and the local constituency association to appoint a candidate “so that the new candidate can hit the ground running and ensure a UCP victory in this constituency.”

Toews was the early favourite to replace Kenney as leader last year – with half of the caucus members supporting him — but fell short in the end as Smith galvanized party anger with the federal government and COVID-19 health restrictions.

He locked horns with Smith during the campaign. He criticized her for past advocacy of a provincial sales tax and said her proposed — and since passed — sovereignty act would scare off investment with its promise to ignore federal laws in areas of perceived provincial jurisdiction.

As finance minister, the rancher and accountant oversaw the best and worst of Alberta’s turbulent oil-and-gas-powered economy, with massive deficits, negative oil prices and eye-popping surpluses.

He looked born to the parts of outdoorsman and number cruncher: close-cropped hair, eyeglasses and well-worn cowboy boots with a trademark monotone speaking style occasionally punctuated by high-decibel, finger-pointing attacks on the NDP Opposition during question period.

He stickhandled many controversial files, including de-indexing personal income tax, arguing for wage cuts to nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic and lifting the rate cap on auto insurance.

He was also the point person on long-running deliberations to pull Alberta out of the Canada Pension Plan in favour of a provincial one. The government has yet to release research on the merits and drawbacks of such a plan, despite promising two years ago that the release of a report was imminent.

Toews was also among those who were surreptitiously photographed in 2021 at a drinks-and-dinner get-together with Kenney on a rooftop patio on the legislature grounds in contravention of COVID-19 gathering rules.

In a statement, Opposition NDP finance critic Shannon Phillips said she admires Toew’s record.

“He conducts himself with decency and is mostly grounded in reality, unlike the new crop of Smith candidates.”

Toews said his proudest achievement is leaving the province in a better place financially than when he found it, noting the new budget also includes commitments to keeping spending under control while repaying debt and investing in long-term savings.

“We’re leading the nation in job creation,” Toews said.

“All of that tied together certainly brings some satisfaction to these last four years, which have certainly been a bit of a roller-coaster.”

He said the difficult part was long nights of no-win decisions during the COVID-19 crisis, balancing public health with personal freedoms with no clear cut black-and-white answers.

“Those were some of the hardest hours of my life serving on that COVID cabinet committee,” he said.

“(They were) impossible decisions, and knowing those decisions were going to impact Albertans directly. We certainly didn’t get it all right.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2023.

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