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4 if fv v -tf- yt r p8 thetribunetpjesplfmrth to 1998 m iw a v v hr tr v mm ya st business and finance 4 revenue canada is more strict about what selfemployed people can claim youre thinking of mak ing the big move youre fed up with office politics and believe that your tal ents could be appreciated by a much wider audience on a freelance basis the freedom of work ing for yourself at hours that suit you is another plus and youve heard that the tax benefits are great true said david mason a chartered account and tax partner in the ottawa office of char tered accounting firm arthur andersen if you are self- employed you can deduct any reasonable expenses incurred in earning your income kusatz sharpley chartered accountants income tax returns other accounting tax services ail year discount for seniors 1 0 on basic returns 6188 main street 6401991 employees on the other hand are limited in the expenses they can claim on their tax returns said robert jason ca a tax partner with ontario law firm folger rubi- noff the selfemployed have wider scope and less restrictions on their deductions briefly you are allowed to claim half of what you spend to wine dine and entertain clients office supplies subscriptions books and maga zines needed for your business office equipment such as com puters printers and fax machines money spent on office help where a spouse or relative is employed you have the additional benefit of income splitting said jason car expenses incurred in carry ing out your business pertinent travel expenses home office expenses this includes heat light power telephone property taxes mainte nance and cleaning mortgage inter est or rent you can claim these expenses only for the portion of the house you actually use for business although all these expenses are deductible said mason youd better be expecting to make a profit in your business if its just something you are doing on the side to gener ate losses to reduce other income revenue canada could disallow many or all of your expenses revenue canada knows that certain taxpayers sometimes stretch the truth although there is for example legitimate income splitting and you can pay a salary to your spouse or children for working in the business these amount must reasonably reflect the work involved said jason both cas agree that to protect yourself from losing what may be even the most legitimate expenses you should document everything try to keep cash payments to a min imum and always ask for a receipt when entertaining clients keep the receipts and write on them who you were with and the reason for the gettogether and dont be tempted into making false claims revenue canada has been known to phone people to see if they actu ally bought them lunch and why similarly when you travel make a detailed expense report with the various receipts attached and pro vide a written explanation of where you went and the business reason for the trip for car expenses keep an auto mobile log showing where you went how many miles you travelled who you went to see and why in recent years revenue canada has become increasingly strict with what selfemployed business people can claim as legitimate expenses moneycare is brought to you by the institute of chartered accountants of ontario i used to lose a lot of sleep over tax returns i m m markham stouffville uxbridge 1 real estate publication vr i figured why bother doing my taxes if it causes me so much grief so i went to hr block with hr block i know ill always get what i deserve because they really know their stuff so i dont have to worry about missing deductions or paying more tax than i should fttitb its the right thing to do 20 freel lane stouffville 905 6422927 109 brock st west uxbridge 9058527409 look for it every saturday in the markham stouffville and uxbridge weekender list with an area realtor who advertises in best homes to advertise please call markham 9052942200 stouffville 9056402100 uxbridge 9058529741 wwwroyallepageca 20000 different homes one address right now a royal lepage sales rep is putting a home near you on to the royal lepage website tomorrow buyers everywhere can visit just by going to one address wwwroyallepageca once there they can find out about the home and even use our mortgage calculator to- see how it fits their budget if ftoyrt upat rtl ettm svk ltd broker son efficn independently owned x oftrited m