Canadian Payroll Reporter

JANUARY 2014 NEWS IN BRIEF | A LOOK AT NEWS, FACTS AND FIGURES SHAPING THE WORLD OF PAYROLL PROFESSIONALS Proposed regulations would implement new penalty structure for T4 filing OTTAWA — The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has published draft regulations that would allow it to implement a graduated penalty structure for employers and payers who fail to file information returns such as the T4 over the Internet. The federal government first announced the plan to implement a graduated penalty structure in the 2009 federal budget when it proposed lowering the requirement for mandatory electronic filing from 500 information returns to 50. The government amended the federal Income Tax Act in 2009 to incorporate the new penalty structure, but the CRA did not implement it because regulations under the Act had not yet been revised to change the filing requirement from 500 to 50. Proposed regulations would implement the change to 50 information returns and also specifies that employers and payers must send the returns to the CRA over the Internet rather than by electronic filing. The changes would apply to information returns required to be filed after 2013. The draft regulations would also specify the types of returns affected by the change, including the T4, T4A, T4A-NR and NR4. Once the draft regulations are finalized, the following penalties will apply to employers and payers who fail to file information returns by Internet File Transfer in XML format if they file more than 50 returns for a calendar year: • 51 – 250 information slips — $250 • 251-500 information slips — $500  • 501-2,500 information slips — $1,500 • 2,501 and up information slips — $2,500 New labour standards leaves proposed ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Newfoundland and Labrador is proposing to add new unpaid leaves to the Labour Standards Act for employees who are parents. One leave would allow eligible employees to take time off work to look after their critically ill child. The other leaves would allow eligible employees to take time off if their child has disappeared or died as a result of a suspected crime. Details about the qualifications are proposed in Bill 17, an Act to Amend the Labour Standards Act. It had first reading in the provincial legislature on Nov. 19. At press time, the bill had not yet passed. Payroll earnings up 0.9 per cent in September: StatsCan OTTAWA — Average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $918 in September, little changed from $915 in August, Statistics Canada reports. On a year-over-year basis, weekly earnings increased 1.9 per cent. The increase in weekly earnings during the 12 months to September reflected a number of factors, including wage growth, changes in the composition of employment by industry, occupation and level of job experience, as well as average hours worked per week. Non-farm payroll employees worked an average of 33 hours per week in September, little changed from the average of 33.1 hours observed 12 months earlier. Year-over-year earnings of nonfarm payroll employees grew in eight provinces, with the growth above the national average in Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan and Alberta. LEGISLATIVE ROUNDUP | CHANGES IN PAYROLL LAWS AND REGULATIONS FROM ACROSS CANADA ■ CANADA Reminder: Statutory holiday in February Monday, Feb. 17 is Family Day in Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba (Louis Riel Day) and Prince Edward Island (Islander Day). In British Columbia, Family Day falls on Monday, Feb. 10. ■ MANITOBA Minimum wage exemption no longer applies Manitoba has amended The Employment Standards Code to abolish an exemption that allowed employers to apply to Employment Standards for permis- 4 sion to pay wages below the minimum wage rate to employees with physical or mental disabilities. The government introduced Bill 15, The Employment Standards Code Amendment Act (Minimum Wage Protection for Employees with Disabilities), in the legislature in late 2012 and it received royal assent on Dec. 5. The change does not affect permits already in effect. ■ YUKON Changes to TD1YT amounts for 2014 For 2014, personal amounts claimed on a Yukon Personal Tax Credits Return (TD1YK) have been revised to reflect an Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2014 indexing factor of 0.9 per cent. As a result, the following maximum amounts apply: Basic personal amount — $11,138  Child amount — $2,255/$ 4,313* Age amount — $6,916  Pension income amount — $2,000 Education amount — full-time — $4,800 Education amount — part-time — $1,440 Disability amount — $7,766  Spouse, common-law partner or eligible dependant amount — 11,138/$13,196* Caregiver amount — $4,530/$6,588* Amount for infirm dependants 18 and older — $6,589  *If the child, spouse, common-law Continued on page 5

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