You are currently browsing the daily archive for January 2, 2008.
Well, January 1st, 2008 marked the start of another cut in the GST. Now standing at 5%, the reduced tax rate is designed to bring people back on board the consumer train and keep Canada out of a recession. Of course, the politicians will tell you it is a long-overdue break for Canadians, and that is true on many levels. Either way, the reduction in the GST rate is great, but I still wonder what impact it will have on small business owners besides being a headache for their accountant.
For HSA holders, the only perk is that the commonly charged service or administrative fee most HSA account holders are charged will be reduced by 1%. This means that on or after January 1st, all billings you receive from your HSA administrator should have the GST reduced by 1% – but don’t confuse this with the overall admin fee – it is just the taxes being adjusted.
It is January 2nd, 2008. My first day of work in a new year. A few months ago, I decided to start a blog about Health Spending Accounts or HSAs. Why? Well…
- I was growing frustrated with the lack of information available regarding HSAs within the Canadian marketplace. To this day it amazes me at how little the average Joe on the street understands of the greatest tax savings vehicles in this country!
- I wanted people to have access to an ongoing forum where news and information on the funding, claiming, and tax benefits could be shared and debated.
- To share my personal insight on the US and Canadian markets with a goal of clarifying certain misconceptions out there on how an HSA works and the related benefits.
The new year also starts the beginning of a new personal business venture of mine – sort of a “side thing” when I am not focused on HSAs. With this new adventure as a small business owner, the time was right for a blog. Given the benefits an HSA can bring to a frustrated small business owner suffering from rising benefit costs, I thought that my new business venture would give me some additional connections and insight into the minds of the entrepreneur.
On the other side of the coin, many benefits professionals are searching for more detailed analysis and support for implementing HSAs into their benefit programs. I understand these two needs for information and I hope my blogs will balance these two audiences adequately.
