Contents:

Welcome
Upcoming Events
What's New
GrandMaster Updates

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Welcome!

February 2003 - Welcome to the latest edition of The Payroll News. As always, please feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends and associates who are interested in keeping up with the latest changes in the Payroll industry. Or better yet, subscribe them for free using the Tell Someone About Us link.

Upcoming Events

Listed here are recent changes in legislation on Federal and Provincial levels that may impact your payroll calculations. Please view the following list for changes that affect your region.

FEDERAL:

January 29, 2003 - Agent-assisted business tax help on Saturdays - The Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) will have agent service on its business enquiries telephone lines Saturday, February 15 and Saturday, February 22 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. This extended service will assist employers who may need help preparing T4 slips for employees. (Full Story - 197 Words)

January 9, 2003 - Federal-Provincial Review of The Canada Pension Plan - The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) is financially sound and is on track to provide retirement pensions in the future, federal and provincial ministers of finance announced today following the conclusion of their financial review of the CPP. The review confirms that the 1997 federal-provincial agreement to restore the financial health of the CPP has put the plan back on sound financial footing. On January 1 the contribution rate was increased to 9.9 per cent, which was the final step in fully implementing the 1997 reforms. (Full Story - 360 Words)

January 24, 2003 - Campaign Chair appointed for 2003 CSB Payroll Program - The Minister of Finance announced today the appointment of Annette Verschuren as the 2003 National Campaign Chair for the New Canada Savings Bonds Payroll Program. The New Canada Savings Bonds Payroll Program is one of the largest automatic savings plans in Canada, enabling Canadians to purchase Canada Savings Bonds through their workplaces. (Full Story - 513 Words)

January 14, 2003 - Minister Bradshaw announces release of new report on work-life balance - The Minister of Labour today announced the release of a new report dealing with issues related to the workplace and the economy. The study explores work-life balance issues and the conflict Canadians face between the demands of work and home. The report deals with findings such as Canadians' concern over flexible work schedules, limits on overtime, opportunities for part-time work, telework and family care provisions as things that would help them achieve a better sense of balance in their lives. (Full Story - 2,460 Words)

January 22, 2003 - Student Summer Job Action (SSJA) 2003 - The HRDC Minister and the Secretary of State (Children and Youth), today launched Student Summer Job Action (SSJA) 2003. A major component of SSJA is HRDC's Summer Career Placements (SCP) program that offers wage subsidies to employers in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors to create jobs related to students' career interests and their fields of study. (Full Story - 1,756 Words)

Alberta:

January 20, 2003 - STEP funding application deadline of February 28th approaches - It's time for Alberta registered non-profit community organizations to apply for the 2003 Summer Temporary Employment Program (STEP). Employer applications for STEP funding must be submitted by February 28, 2003. Last year, STEP provided funding for summer jobs for over 3,800 Albertans. (Full Story - 321 Words)

British Columbia:

January 8, 2003 - WCB launches new e-business options for B.C. employers - The Workers' Compensation Board is making it easier to do business in B.C., thanks to a new electronic commerce service that employers can use to report payroll, pay premiums, and manage their WCB account online at any time using the Internet. The service, known as Online Reporting and Remitting offers B.C. Employers a broad range of payment and account management options that can be tailored to meet their specific needs. (Full Story - 450 Words)

Manitoba:

January 10, 2003 - Manitoba records lowest annual unemployment rate for 2002 - Industry, Trade and Mines Minister MaryAnn Mihychuk today welcomed the release of new labour market information that she said shows that the strength of the Manitoba economy has resulted in the lowest unemployment rate in the country for 2002. The labour force information released today indicates that for the month of December 2002, Manitoba's unemployment rate dropped from 5.4 per cent in November to five per cent in December, resulting in Manitoba having the lowest rate in the country. (Full Story - 407 Words)

New Brunswick:

January 29 , 2003 - SEED program / March 1 deadline for employer applications - The deadline for submitting Student Employment and Experience Development Program (SEED) employer applications is March 1. Under the program, the department provides wage subsidies for eligible jobs at provincial government departments and agencies, municipalities and nonprofit groups. The program provides $6.25 an hour for eligible summer students working in their organization and employers are encouraged to top up this wage. To be eligible, a student must be planning to attend a post-secondary institution next fall. (Full Story - 425 Words)

Newfoundland and Labrador:

January 28, 2003 - Government releases study on hours of work for school support staff - Education Minister Judy Foote released publicly today the report of the Study Group on Hours of Work for school support personnel. The report, entitled Facing the Challenge, is the result of consultations which were held in 16 locations throughout the province. (Full Story - 393 Words)

January 3, 2003 - New Legislation in Effect for the Construction Industry - As of January 1st, 2003 , new regulations have come into effect for the province’s construction industry. As a result of these new regulations introduced under the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Act, construction companies are now required to comply with early and safe return-to-work legislation. This announcement was made by the Minister of Labour, Hon. Anna Thistle, on October 11, 2002. (Full Story - 380 Words)

Ontario:

January 30, 2003 - Ontario continues to focus on jobs and opportunities during pre-budget consultations in Cambridge - The Ontario government will continue its focus on promoting new jobs and new opportunities during consultations for the 2003 Ontario Budget, Finance Minister Janet Ecker said today. "Ontario has created more than one million net new jobs since September 1995 and is well positioned for the future". The pre-Budget consultations began in December, taking the Minister to Ottawa, Kenora, Thunder Bay and Toronto and will continue through February. Additional consultations will take place in Pickering, Sault Ste. Marie, London, Windsor, Sudbury, North Bay, St. Catharines, Kingston, Goderich, and Orillia. (Full Story - 260 Words)

January 28, 2003 - WSIB Voluntary Registration Program ends March 31, 2003 - For most businesses in Ontario, WSIB registration is a legal obligation. Companies can step forward to register before March 31, 2003 and avoid potentially significant financial consequences. Employers who contact the Ontario WSIB to register voluntarily will only need to pay premiums retroactive to a maximum of 12 months prior to the date of registration. (Full Story - 167 Words)

Saskatchewan:

January 2 , 2003 - Saskatchewan income tax rates come down again in 2003 - Effective January 1st, 2003 income tax brackets were expanded so that more income is taxed at lower rates. Saskatchewan Finance Minister Eric Cline said the January 1 tax cuts mark the final phase of the four-year Tax Reform plan introduced in the March, 2000 Budget. The 11 per cent tax rate now applies to the first $35,000 of taxable income in 2003. The 13 per cent rate applies to the next $65,000 and the 15 per cent rate applies to remaining taxable income over $100,000. (Full Story - 453 Words)

January 10 , 2003 - Province posts strong job numbers in 2002 - Saskatchewan ended a strong 2002 for the economy with another record-breaking month for job numbers. Statistics Canada figures released today show 484,200 people working in the province in December (seasonally unadjusted). That's the highest December on record for jobs, beating the previous record set three years ago and an increase of 25,000 jobs over December 2001. (Full Story - 424 Words)

January 15, 2003 - CCOHS launches national youth portal to promote work safety - Young Canadians are playing a key role in developing an online presence to promote workplace safety to new workers. The national youth Web portal, launched by The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), is now available at www.ccohs.ca/job-one. The Web portal brings together Canadian materials prepared for new and young workers which help everyone understand the importance of working safely. It is directed to workers in their first job, as well as their parents, employers, and teachers. (Full Story - 375 Words)

The current release of GrandMaster Suite (3.70.01) incorporates a number of changes to make it even easier to use the program and perform your payroll tasks. Recent program changes since our last Payroll News issue include:

• Employee name added as print heading option for pay statements - When printing pay statements, you can now use the Employee Name option as a heading. Previously, if you choose the Name as an employee heading, it would not be included in the printed statement.
• Current and Past Year Tax Rates now accessible from Help menu - The updated rates for CPP/QPP, EI, WCB and Federal TD1 amounts have been added to the online help so you can view them at a glance. The help document is accessible from the Taxation Rates command located in the Payroll Module or System Manager's Help menu. The rates for prior years can also be accessed from a link at the bottom of each help page.
• You can now create a Relevé 1 export file for submission to Revenu Québec - We have added the ability to create an export file containing Relevé 1 data. This new feature can be accessed under the Year-End - Relevé 1 Magnetic Filing command. The resulting dialog box allows you to define the export file name, individual settings and the required contact information.
• Accumulators retaining balance after pay out - If you had an accumulator that did not allow negative balances, was Dollar Based and paid out the accrual each pay, the accumulator would pay out the amount correctly, but would retain a balance in the history instead of including it in the paid out amount. Further, if you ran a pay calculation and closed the pay without noticing that the accumulator had retained the paid amount as a balance, you would need to adjust this balance by making a YTD adjustment to the accumulator. This problem has been corrected.
• Default Pay Statements Form not savings user-defined settings - When you entered custom settings/descriptions on the default Pay Statements form (as opposed to creating a new form), the settings would not be saved when you closed the form. This has been adjusted so that the custom descriptions are now saved. If you decide later that you want the original default form settings restored, you can do so via the File - Reset to Default Format command located in the Payroll Statement dialog box. Note: Although this functionality has been provided, it is recommended that you do not modify the default form, but rather apply any changes to a new form. View the online help for this dialog box to learn more about creating new forms.
• Employee Dates not displayed correctly in Name and Address Report - When you printed a Name and Address Report, certain employee dates were not being displayed correctly. The employee's Original Start and Termination dates were using the values entered in the Payroll Specific Information dialog box and not the dates from the Employee Information dialog box (which could be different if the employee was associated with more than payroll). This has been corrected and these dates have now been synchronized between all dialog boxes.
• Void appearing on cheque register - When you printed a cheque register, the word Void would appear if more than one payroll was included in the creation of the file.
• S/B (Should Be) amounts now reporting only for changes greater than $1.00 - When printing the T4 Data Report the CPP was reporting S/B amounts ("should be") when the Deduction was greater than the S/B. Since the program's S/B calculation does not account for partial year exemptions, the program does not have an accurate S/B calculation when the T4 data is based on a partial year. The program has now been adjusted so that the S/B message only occurs when the difference between the calculated "Should be" amount and the deduction is more than $1.00. Similarly, the S/B amounts for EI now appear only if the calculated amount is greater than $1.00.
• Import function not handling varied province settings correctly - When you imported time (e.g. hours, ee number, earn code, no province code, etc.), the program would apply the setting for the first imported employee's tax province to all employees. This has been corrected so that the function now imports employee time settings with varied tax provinces.
• Description not appearing on EFT Statements or Cheques and Stubs - When you created EFT Statements or Cheques and Stubs, the Cheque Date - Description item (under the Company tab) was not printing anywhere on the cheque stub. This problem has been corrected and the description now appears on the printed stubs.

Stay tuned to CanPay's Product News page to receive the latest changes and release information for all GrandMaster products!

Over the course of the next few issues, we will be offering a basic review of the responsibilities and obligations that Canadian employers have with respect to the deduction of employee income tax, Canada Pension Plan contributions, and Employment Insurance premiums.

Employer Commitments for Payroll Deductions

As employers, we must all meet specific requirements when handling the deduction and remittance of employee income tax, Canada Pension Plan contributions, and Employment Insurance premiums. Throughout the year, we must forward the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) these deductions, along with our business's share of Canada Pension Plan contributions and Employment Insurance premiums.

QPP - The Québec provincial government administers its own provincial pension plan, the Québec Pension Plan (QPP). This plan applies to employees where one of the following situations apply:

• The employee has to report to the employer's place of business in Quebec.
• The employee does not have to report to the employer's place of business, but the employee is paid from the employer's place of business in Quebec.

If you need more information about the QPP you can contact the Ministère du Revenue du Québec at (888) 413-2277, except from within Montréal or Quebec City localities. If you're calling from Montréal or Quebec City, please refer to your local phone directory.

Payroll Deduction Amounts - Since payroll deductions are held in trust for the Receiver General, employers need to keep these amounts separate from their company's operating funds. The funds cannot be part of an estate in liquidation, assignment, receivership, or bankruptcy.

T4/T4A Reporting - The employer is responsible for reporting employees' income and deductions on a T4 or T4A return every year.

SIN Numbers - Lastly, as an employer, you are required to obtain a social insurance number from each of your employees. If an employee does not provide you his or her social insurance number, you will need to indicate to the CCRA that you have made a reasonable effort to obtain it.

Deducting Income Tax From Employees

To determine the amount of tax to withhold, employees must file a federal Form TD1,"Personal Tax Credit Return". As of January 1, 2001, provincial income tax is calculated using the tax on income, TONI, method in all provinces except Quebec.

As a result, all employees except those living in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Quebec, the Yukon or outside Canada are also required to file a provincial Form TD1. For these employees, federal and provincial tax calculations are required.

If an employee does not file a Form TD1, you should allow only the basic personal amount or code "one" in the tax tables. New federal and provincial TD1s are required anytime there is a change in the amount of credits the employee is claiming.

The CCRA provides several other forms for income deductions which are designed to be used for both federal and provincial purposes:

• Form TD1X - Statement of Commission Income and Expenses for Payroll Tax Deductions. This form is for commission salespersons who want to claim business-related expenses.
• Form TD3F - Fisherman's Election for Tax Deductions at Source. This form is for fishermen who wish to have tax deducted at source but are not considered employees.

If employees become entitled to other deductions, such as spousal support, they can ask their employers to reduce the amount of tax that is withheld from them during the year.

If you require further information on any of the above items, please refer to the CCRA Guide T4001, Payroll Deductions (Basic Information).