A few years later, her son, Lars Jorgensen, joined the organization as the managing partner. Under his direction, the business expanded to include bookkeeping, corporate tax preparation and planning. He has carried on the tradition of quality service and expertise while implementing the latest technologies to “stay ahead of the curve”.

The continued growth necessitated change. In 2008, EJ Tax Service was incorporated. In 2017, the list of available services greatly expanded through an association with Sentry Group Wealth Partners, which introduced financial planning, investments, insurance and mortgages. Finally, in 2022, after years in the downtown core, the business relocated to its current location at 2225 Kingsway Drive.

Today, EJ Tax Service proudly serves over 4,000 clients in the region and continues to grow due to a commitment to developing and maintaining strong relationships with both returning and new customers.

Kaitlynn began working at EJ Tax in 2020. She is currently enrolled at Conestoga College in the Honours BBA – Accounting, Audit and Information Technology program. The knowledge gained from her schooling transfers exceptionally well to real life scenarios encountered at work.

• Under proposed changes, eligibility for the CCR rural supplement will be expanded to include individuals who reside within a census rural area or small population centre (less than 30,000 individuals) in a census metropolitan area (CMA), as designated by Statistics Canada. Eligibility for the supplement will be based on the geographical designations from the most recent census published before the tax year. These changes will be reflected in payments starting in April 2025.

• As of January 2024, a second additional contribution of 4% is required by the employee and employer on pensionable earnings that are more than the year's maximum pensionable earnings but not more than the year's additional maximum pensionable earnings. This amount is reported in box 16A (CPP) of your T4 slip. For self-employment income and other earnings, the rate for second additional contributions is 8%.

• The HBP withdrawal limit has increased from $35,000 to $60,000 for withdrawals made after April 16, 2024. In addition, temporary repayment relief was introduced to defer the start of the 15-year repayment period by an additional three years for participants making a first withdrawal between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2025. Accordingly, the 15-year repayment period will start in the fifth year following the year that the first withdrawal was made.

• New reporting requirements for platform operators have been introduced for the 2024 calendar year on sellers in the sharing and gig economy, including the rental of real or immovable property. If you are a reportable seller, your platform operator will provide you with an annual copy of the information that is collected and reported to the Minister under these rules by January 31, 2025, to help you file your taxes.

• As of January 1, 2024, individuals are no longer able to deduct expenses related to non-compliant short-term rentals. This change applies to all expenses, including interest expenses, incurred after 2023 to earn income from operating non-compliant short-term rentals.

• The VFA and SRVA have increased from $3,000 to $6,000 for eligible individuals who performed at least 200 hours of combined eligible volunteer service during the year.