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E-Myth – “Why most small businesses don’t work & what to do about it”

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Edmonton Small Business Accountant | Avoiding Source Deductions Problems


There are several things that business owners need to take into consideration when they are learning how to operate their business says Edmonton small business accountant. Especially since 50% of all businesses end up going out of business within five years, and 29% of those businesses say that running out of cash was the reason why their business failed. With all things that business owners need to learn and know how to do when they start operating their business, running into problems with Canada revenue agency due to payroll tax problems shouldn’t be one of them. There are only a few things that business owners need to take into consideration when they are learning how to run payroll in their business for the very first time, knowing all of these ahead of time, and help business owners avoid source deductions problems that can significantly impact their business.

The first thing that business owners should learn says Edmonton small business accountant, is how much they have to admit to CRA in source deductions. Many business owners know about the CPP, EI and tax that they must deduct off of their employees wages in order to pay Canada revenue agency. But many business owners don’t know that they also have to pay a contribution themselves of 7.4%. The reason they have to pay this in addition to their employees source deductions, is to pay employer CPP and employer EI. My feeling to pay the entire amount, they could run into the problem of having a shortfall in their source deductions at the end of the year.

The second thing that business owners should keep in mind when they are learning how to run payroll in their business for the very first time, is how important it is not to be late. Their remittances are due to Canada revenue agency on the 15th day of the month, the month after they issued the paycheck to their employee. Although the payroll remittances are due on that specific day, business owners don’t have to wait until that day in order to pay them says Edmonton small business accountant. In fact, most businesses are recommended to not wait until the final date in order to pay their source deductions. If they run into problems, or are unable to process the payment on that exact day, they will be hit with late penalties. A far better way of paying source deductions is to pay them on the same day that an employer runs payroll. This makes it extremely easy for the business owner, because there already calculating the source amounts, and there already sending checks. All you have to do is figure out how much to send CRA at the exact same time, and arranged to make the payment. This way, it’s less likely that business owners are going to forget to run payroll, and it gives them several days in advance morning before their payment is late. By following these easy steps, business owners can avoid running into source deductions issues with CRA.

The favourite quote Edmonton small business accountant is by Michael Gerber, the author of the E myth which says “the fatal assumption is: if you understand the technical work of the business, you understand a business that does that technical work.” Many business owners are very good at the job that their business does, but they are not as good at running a business. For example, a framer knows how to frame houses, but that doesn’t make him qualified to running a house framing business. Since many business owners are very good at what they do in their business, a lot of them are learning how to operate a business for the very first time. By understanding how to run source deductions and remit payment to Canada revenue agency, business owners can avoid significant issues that may end up costing their business more in the long run.

Business owners need to realize that source of action errors can significantly cost their business. By being late up to one day can mean significant penalties for business owners says Edmonton small business accountant. By being even one day late but their source deductions payment, a business owner can be hit with a 20% interest penalty. Depending on how big their payroll is, this can be a massive amount of money that was incurred only by being one day late. This is far and away Canada revenue agency’s most expensive penalty. The reason for that is because CRA views mismanagement of payroll source deductions as misusing government money. The business collected that money from their employees on behalf of the government, and instead of paying it to the government, they used it to fund their own business. Because of that, penalties are very very steep.

Another thing that business owners should keep in mind when it comes to payroll remittances, is that CRA will be extremely determined in order to collect that money. Since they view this as one of the most serious infractions, businesses who are late to payers, or have submitted a shortfall, will be aggressively called and sought after until they have paid not only the amount that they owe, but there penalties as well. Something that business owners should also be aware of is that the business owners who our directors are personally liable for payroll tax. Whether they are still operating their business, or their business went bankrupt, two people in the business will be responsible to pay for those source deductions until they’re paid off in full says Edmonton small business accountant.

Business owners should be aware of all of the various ways that they can pay CRA, in order to avoid making any errors. Business owners can definitely speak to their accountant who can help them with their tax planning help avoid and eliminate payroll tax arrears in their business for good. if you have question about anything talked about in this article or about any related business topics we encourage you to give us a call today.