So continues the ongoing saga that is me trying to get my GST number. Seriously, this *shouldn't* be this difficult.
I've tried again going through the Government of Canada's website. I was actually very optimistic this time around...until I clicked the Accept button and got "This application is temporarily unavailable". Really.
So then I decided to check out some other sites, like the Business Development Center, which is actually a private company that will, for a fee, register your GST number for you. But, it shouldn't be that complex of a process to warrant bringing in a third party.
So now I'm onto my last option which I think might be my best: fill out the form, and mail it in.
Ugh...this is SO FRUSTRATING...
Monday, July 14, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Head-Hunter Lesson Learned
I have a potential client lined up for a bunch of work over the next few months. Sounds good right? Well...
I was placed at this client through a head-hunting company. This was my first break into the independant world, and they were a great introduction, so I have no complaints. However, they recently changed their stance on sole proprietors and incorporated entities.
Basically, if your inc then you're ok...but if your sp, then you get treated as a term employee, with tax taken off and everything...so you're not *really* independant (and you lose the ability to move what would have been taxable dollars into RSP savings instead of just handing it back to the government).
So now I've been out of this client for about 6 months, but there's a 1 year non-compete clause that we both signed with the head-hunters. The problem is that I can't go in as an sp because i'm not willing to be considered a term. I'm also not going to jump through the hoops and pay out the money to rush an incorporated status just to be able to get this gig.
Complicating this further is that when I did my taxes this year, my accountant asked me why they issues me a T4 at all (the head hunter place said they had to take CPP and EI off). They didn't...and because they issues a T4, that meant that I'd get flagged by Revenue Canada, so i had to claim all that money under taxable income.
We'll see how this shakes, but right now I'm thinking that unless they let me ba a *true* SP and just invoice them and leave it at that, this contract might not fly. Which is ok...the one year ends in the fall and if they still have work I'll be free from the shackles of the head hunters.
I was placed at this client through a head-hunting company. This was my first break into the independant world, and they were a great introduction, so I have no complaints. However, they recently changed their stance on sole proprietors and incorporated entities.
Basically, if your inc then you're ok...but if your sp, then you get treated as a term employee, with tax taken off and everything...so you're not *really* independant (and you lose the ability to move what would have been taxable dollars into RSP savings instead of just handing it back to the government).
So now I've been out of this client for about 6 months, but there's a 1 year non-compete clause that we both signed with the head-hunters. The problem is that I can't go in as an sp because i'm not willing to be considered a term. I'm also not going to jump through the hoops and pay out the money to rush an incorporated status just to be able to get this gig.
Complicating this further is that when I did my taxes this year, my accountant asked me why they issues me a T4 at all (the head hunter place said they had to take CPP and EI off). They didn't...and because they issues a T4, that meant that I'd get flagged by Revenue Canada, so i had to claim all that money under taxable income.
We'll see how this shakes, but right now I'm thinking that unless they let me ba a *true* SP and just invoice them and leave it at that, this contract might not fly. Which is ok...the one year ends in the fall and if they still have work I'll be free from the shackles of the head hunters.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
So what did I learn from tax season?
Taxes are done and in, and let me tell you: having an accountant do them is a godsend!
It wasn't the best case scenario for rebate/payments, but I did learn one very important thing:
If you're working as a sole-proprietor and the agency you're going through gives you a T4 at the end of the year, ASK QUESTIONS. Turns out that organizations that claim to have to with-hold EI or CPP don't...at least they shouldn't be for fully independant workers....and that's what happened with one gig I did for a local head-hunting firm.
As a result, that amount had to be recorded as taxable income (there's a T4...T4 = you worked somewhere).
I'm curious to see the actual print-outs to see how it was all calculated, but so far my first 6 months has had some good lessons learned, and I didn't take too much of a hit...so we'll see what shakes!
It wasn't the best case scenario for rebate/payments, but I did learn one very important thing:
If you're working as a sole-proprietor and the agency you're going through gives you a T4 at the end of the year, ASK QUESTIONS. Turns out that organizations that claim to have to with-hold EI or CPP don't...at least they shouldn't be for fully independant workers....and that's what happened with one gig I did for a local head-hunting firm.
As a result, that amount had to be recorded as taxable income (there's a T4...T4 = you worked somewhere).
I'm curious to see the actual print-outs to see how it was all calculated, but so far my first 6 months has had some good lessons learned, and I didn't take too much of a hit...so we'll see what shakes!
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Tax Time
Here it is...my first tax submission for a year where I worked for half of it as a sole proprietor. I am a little nervous, as I really don't know what to expect. I know that I'm definately *not* getting a refund, but I'm also not sure what my bill is going to be. I've contributed quite a bit to RSP's, and I have a fair amount of expenses to claim (which is another thing...seeing exactly what does get claimed and what doesn't, or how much for some of the home bills since I work out of my home for some of my work). I just really don't know...
I'm going to be talking with my accountant about Incorporation again, mainly for the tax benefits and not so much the increased "safety" that it supposedly provides (which I've heard numerous times ove the last few months that its really a fallacy about how much protection you get going SP to Inc).
Anyway, time will tell...look for a tax report in the next few weeks!
CC
I'm going to be talking with my accountant about Incorporation again, mainly for the tax benefits and not so much the increased "safety" that it supposedly provides (which I've heard numerous times ove the last few months that its really a fallacy about how much protection you get going SP to Inc).
Anyway, time will tell...look for a tax report in the next few weeks!
CC
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Frustrations with Registerign for GST Number
I've been trying to register for a GST number since late 2007. You'd think it would be easy, but unforunately its not...at least if you go the website route.
I tried registering for my GST number online through the Government of Canada's website...at the end of it I got a blank page with the title of "Summary". Weird. Weeks went by and nobody contacted me (as I was told they would on the site). Finally I called. Guess what? They had *no* record of me in their system. I guess something had messed up.
I went through the process again, and received the same issue: blank summary screen at the end. I emailed their tech support explaining what had happened and that I was concerned that this might not have gone through. I was assured that it had and that someone would contact me.
It's been a few months. No contact. So I'm just going to call them instead and get this sorted out. This has been very annoying...it shouldn't be this hard.
For what its worth, the application they use is a Java applet, and I was accessing it with Firefox on my iMac...so some combination of those three is the issue I suppose.
I tried registering for my GST number online through the Government of Canada's website...at the end of it I got a blank page with the title of "Summary". Weird. Weeks went by and nobody contacted me (as I was told they would on the site). Finally I called. Guess what? They had *no* record of me in their system. I guess something had messed up.
I went through the process again, and received the same issue: blank summary screen at the end. I emailed their tech support explaining what had happened and that I was concerned that this might not have gone through. I was assured that it had and that someone would contact me.
It's been a few months. No contact. So I'm just going to call them instead and get this sorted out. This has been very annoying...it shouldn't be this hard.
For what its worth, the application they use is a Java applet, and I was accessing it with Firefox on my iMac...so some combination of those three is the issue I suppose.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Moving to Incorporation
I've been pretty happy being a sole proprietor so far, and although I was aware of the benefits of being incorporated I was given advice not to worry about it until I was making more money than I was spending...basically a nod to protecting money taxation wise when my personal salary would start to jump up.
However, things have changed. A bulk of my work is done through staffing agencies, Saphire (formerly CNC Global) as the primary one. As of February 1st, they've changed their policy and only do two types of placements: Incorporated individuals or Term individuals. The problem is that even if you're a sole proprietor, you'd be placed as a term employee OF Saphire...meaning that in the government's eyes you aren't acting as an independant body; you're a temp employee of the staffing company.
So add to my plate this month going through the incorporation process...which should give way to some great blog posts at least. Some things that I'm needing to research:
- How to set up my own salary once my business is its own incorporation
- How to set up other employees of the business if I wanted to
- How to set up financial accounts since the incorporation is now separate from my own finances
- What do I need to do from a license perspective with the city, provincial government, and feds
And I'm sure many others. Stay tuned...
CC
However, things have changed. A bulk of my work is done through staffing agencies, Saphire (formerly CNC Global) as the primary one. As of February 1st, they've changed their policy and only do two types of placements: Incorporated individuals or Term individuals. The problem is that even if you're a sole proprietor, you'd be placed as a term employee OF Saphire...meaning that in the government's eyes you aren't acting as an independant body; you're a temp employee of the staffing company.
So add to my plate this month going through the incorporation process...which should give way to some great blog posts at least. Some things that I'm needing to research:
- How to set up my own salary once my business is its own incorporation
- How to set up other employees of the business if I wanted to
- How to set up financial accounts since the incorporation is now separate from my own finances
- What do I need to do from a license perspective with the city, provincial government, and feds
And I'm sure many others. Stay tuned...
CC
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Now I Know How a Trader Feels...
Finding gigs on your own can sometimes feel like your trading stocks: things happen in ebbs and flows, and can change on a dime.
Last week I was asked if I could help with a contract engagement with a former employer (as a subcontractor). We were waiting to hear back from the client and in the meantime I had an interview for another subcontracting gig.
This week, I received confirmation that I won the gig I interviewed for, which is good...but this other opportunity would need to finalize soon if I was going to fit it into my schedule. That same day I get a call that the job I won was a no go because a senior position couldn't be filled and the government agency we were going to work with had to re-tender it. Then I find out today that the former-employer opportunity is a go and we have a meeting for this Friday. All the while, I'm negotiating with a placement firm for an engagement as well.
Tonnes going on...the biggest thing I've realized in all this is that you play until the whistle: talk means nothing unless there's a signed contract backing it. Otherwise, nothing is a for sure. This meeting scheduled for Friday *could* get bumped, or cancelled outright, and if I placed my entire hope in this one contract I'd be handcuffing myself. So to all those out there starting out in consulting, keep all the pokers in the fire but don't commit to one until the meat on the end of it is cooked (I have no idea where that came from...just go with it).
CC
Last week I was asked if I could help with a contract engagement with a former employer (as a subcontractor). We were waiting to hear back from the client and in the meantime I had an interview for another subcontracting gig.
This week, I received confirmation that I won the gig I interviewed for, which is good...but this other opportunity would need to finalize soon if I was going to fit it into my schedule. That same day I get a call that the job I won was a no go because a senior position couldn't be filled and the government agency we were going to work with had to re-tender it. Then I find out today that the former-employer opportunity is a go and we have a meeting for this Friday. All the while, I'm negotiating with a placement firm for an engagement as well.
Tonnes going on...the biggest thing I've realized in all this is that you play until the whistle: talk means nothing unless there's a signed contract backing it. Otherwise, nothing is a for sure. This meeting scheduled for Friday *could* get bumped, or cancelled outright, and if I placed my entire hope in this one contract I'd be handcuffing myself. So to all those out there starting out in consulting, keep all the pokers in the fire but don't commit to one until the meat on the end of it is cooked (I have no idea where that came from...just go with it).
CC
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