How Burlington will win in a next generation economy

Byline:  Francis Mackan As reprinted from In Burlington Magazine The successful Burlington businesses and influential and creative people in our community featured in , A portrait of success, has me thinking beyond my normal topic of the business of numbers, and into the realm of how Burlington can succeed in a new economy. I’ve been [...]

Online sellers beware…the tax man is coming

Probably the most obvious potential abuse of the Income Tax system in Canada has been the “grey area” known as on line selling or e-commerce trade.  It’s been the 800lb gorilla sitting in the corner.  The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has always known that the potential for rampant abuse from under-reported income  is large.  The grey area surrounds [...]

Going green still good for your business

Byline: Francis Mackan (As published in In Burlington Magazine, Summer 2009) In 2007, I wrote in a local business magazine about the need for more ‘green’ in businesses and, the strategic advantages of leveraging green philosophies (see It’s Time to Go Green below). I argued that business owners should make the environment a key part [...]

2009 Ontario Budget

Finance Minister Dwight Duncan delivered Ontario’s 2009 Budget on March 26, 2009. The Budget is projecting a deficit of $3.9 billion in 2008-09, increasing to $14.1 billion in 2009-10. As anticipated the Budget proposes to harmonize Ontario’s current 8% Retail Sales Tax and the federal 5% GST tax to create a single 13% value added [...]

2009 Federal Budget

On Tuesday, January 27, wearing new and perhaps appropriately steel-toed shoes, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty tabled his 2009 Budget in the House of Commons. It is his fourth budget since assuming the finance portfolio and first since the minority Conservative government was returned to office in last fall’s general election and the subsequent prorogation [...]

Auditor General targets tax tactic in report

Sheila Fraser, Auditor General for Canada, tabled her most recent report in the House of Commons yesterday, May 12, 2009.  These always make for interesting reading as she outlines the latest in government scandals.  You can read more here. I had a chance to meet and have lunch with Sheila Fraser a few years back [...]

It’s time to Go Green

Byline:  Francis Mackan Published in Biz Magazine, Summer 2007 The environment is a hot topic and there is no sign of that changing.  How your business handles the Green Factor now could be the single most important determinant of its future success against the competition.  If you want to maintain and increase the value of [...]