City of Toronto Discussion Paper on Small Business Taxation

by Rob Sysak, March 25, 2016

The Small Business Council Advisory Body of the City of Toronto have published a Small Business Taxation Discussion Paper. It is available to the public and is a highly recommended read for any small business owner.

Last April, the Deputy Mayor of Toronto held a Small Business Roundtable directed at understanding the challenges faced by small businesses and finding ways in which the City of Toronto can better help as a result.

The primary issues identified revolved around the impacts of property taxes. And this is not just specific to one city or country. In many cases, the problems extend beyond the plane of property tax. Small businesses, in the initial years, lease out commercial properties primarily because they do not have the capital to conduct a property purchase. But it also means that they have to go through the initial scrutiny (credit history, tenant background check etc) before a rental agreement is signed.

After collecting data and interviewing a collection of small business owners (testimonials and stories are included in this discussion paper), the Small Business Council Advisory Body found three main property tax-related issues that impact small businesses in Toronto:

• Disparity between residential and commercial property tax rates
• Disparity between the level of the business education tax in Toronto versus neighboring municipalities
• Commercial property assessment levels in rapidly developing areas.

All the more reason why you may always want to look for blog posts that can provide you with an overview of a country’s taxation. Also, before you start a new business, you must be aware of all corporate taxes, including mandatory tax reports such as company tax, personal tax, VAT, and so on. If you want to read more about taxation in a specific country, all you have to do is conduct a Google search on that country’s taxation policy and you will be presented with a plethora of articles to read.

In many cases, these problems can be caused due to the fact that nearly half of the small businesses in the country do not have accountants or follow proper bookkeeping procedures. Employing an accountant could be instrumental for your business to manage your business’s cash flow, measure performance, and prepare the business’s tax returns. It is important to a business since any mistakes or defaults in tax payments could lead to penalties, hefty fines, or even lawsuits. Hiring an accountant for small business can help you manage operations more effectively, and take over the tax obligations and formalities, which might, in turn, help you save time and money in the long run.

To read further, please download the Discussion paper here.