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Updates
Things that change and might reach your business: tax rules and rates, filing deadlines, the accounting software people around here actually use, and the occasional note from the practice. Dated, sourced where there is a source, and with a line on what each one means rather than only what it says. Posted when something happens rather than to a schedule.
March 26, 2026 · Ontario · Tax credits
The Regional Opportunities Investment Tax Credit expires effective January 1, 2027. Expenditures have to be incurred by December 31, 2026 to qualify.
It is a 10% refundable corporate income tax credit for a Canadian-controlled private corporation building, renovating or acquiring a commercial or industrial building in a designated region. Eligible expenditures run from just over $50,000 up to $500,000 per property in the year, so the largest credit is $45,000. Residential buildings do not qualify.
What it means. Northumberland County is a designated region, so this is one of the few provincial credits that applies here and not in Toronto or Ottawa. If you are putting up a shop, a shed, a barn conversion or any commercial structure and the work might land either side of the new year, the timing is now worth deciding deliberately rather than by when the contractor turns up. A $500,000 build finished in December is worth $45,000 more than the same build finished in January.
March 26, 2026 · Ontario · Corporate tax
Effective July 1, 2026 the lower rate of Ontario corporation income tax drops from 3.2% to 2.2%, which takes the combined federal and Ontario small business rate to 11.2%. It is prorated for tax years straddling July 1, so a year end other than June 30 gets part of the old rate and part of the new one.
What it means. Around $2,500 a year at $250,000 of active business income and up to $5,000 at $500,000. Worth knowing that Ontario also cut the non-eligible dividend tax credit from 2.99% to 1.99% effective January 1, 2027, which takes part of that back from anyone drawing profits as dividends rather than salary. The two changes pull in opposite directions, so if you are incorporated the mix is worth another look before your next year end rather than after it. See incorporated professionals.
About these notes. Each entry is dated when it was announced and links to a source where there is one, so you can check it yourself. They describe general rules and cannot account for your situation. A change that saves one business money costs another, and the useful question is usually which one you are. If something here looks like it applies to you, a short call is free.
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