If a client pays by cash, do you issue a receipt every time? Or have them sign somewhere? Thanks!
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If a client pays by cash, do you issue a receipt every time? Or have them sign somewhere? Thanks!
I take payment in half cash and half cheque right now. they only get receipts for the cheque but this is for my full time clients only, which I make sure get the maximum money they can claim for the year. I don't really benefit from this myself. The money just goes to my assitants who want their pay in cash so I'm reconsidering this. I do have one client who I have a different agreement with. She gets a full receipt no matter what/how she pays cause she's a single mom. But our accountant said I can claim everything, give receipts for every amount whether its cash or cheque. It wouldn't make a different in my taxes.
I give receipts for every cash payment at the time of payment. Then I give each family an official tax receipt in February for the entire amount they have paid in daycare costs. In Ontario, it is illegal for a daycare provider to not provide receipts for tax purposes for the full amount each family has paid. Not sure if this is different in for other provinces though.
I have a dollar store receipt book that has duplicates. All my daycare families pay in cash with an occasional cheque if they forgot to go to the bank. As soon as I receive a payment I write out a receipt for the week or 2 weeks payment. At the end of the year I tear out all the original copies for the parents at one time and type up a page showing every payment with dates and a total and we each have a copy of the receipts and that page. This has been working great for me because nobody has ever lost a receipt this way.
Yup, same in Alberta. I think that stands true for all the provinces. It is technically illegal to not claim/give receipts. But a lot of people do this work under the table as well with pure cash which is never claimed, which is "illegal", but none the less, it is done. I lived in Toronto most my life before coming to Calgary and its even more prominent there.Quote:
Originally Posted by michellesmunchkins
I have a cash log for each family and whenever I get paid I put the amount and me and the family signs. By doing this we avoid the confusion.
Yup this is me as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by michellesmunchkins
I get there is a 'culture' of working under the table in our society however I do not get WHY people do this in THIS industry ... because seriously in this line of work you can easily claim ALL your income honestly and openly and by the time you add your 'expenses' to doing the business you only end up paying basically your CPP portion which is an investment in your retirement anyway...and heck I know people in this industry who operate illegally, claim all their income and after expenses get a REFUND still because they are single parents and get all those 'tax credits'.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dayhome Mamma
If you have no CPP on record with the Canadian government you get no CPP upon retirement ... and do not know about others but I find it hard to save additional RRSP contributions on my income alone - if not for my spouse making a good income and getting a pension from his job we would have no savings and be in trouble come retirement and well I am a planner I need to keep in mind what happens if come retirement I am SINGLE again and have to rely solely on myself!
Plus I do not understand why clients go alone with the only getting HALF their receipt or NO receipt at all - they are entitled to ALL of it for their own income tax purposes - claiming childcare expenses can knock a client into a different lower tax bracket and open up many other tax credits to them and either reduce their own tax paid or get them a higher refund.
I admit I am too paranoid - but I would be afraid a client would 'agree' to an arrangement like this and than change their mind and REPORT me after the fact ... saving a couple bucks a year in tax is so not worth the potential back tax of an audit not to mention FRAUD charges for openly engaging in arrangements with clients to defraud the government of income tax :(
Also with paying employees under the table ... be careful there as well because not sure about other provinces but in Ontario you cannot be required to 'opt out' of your employment standards act entitlements ... meaning that an employee can agree to one thing with you and for months get paid under the table and than still go to the Labor Relations board and COMPLAIN that you made them contract out of their ESA rights and they were desperate for work so agreed but now they want their EI they are entitled too, they want their CPP payments made, they want XYZ that 'employees' are entitled to from you and if you are found to have been paying them illegally under the table YOU will be owing all that BACK PAYMENT in employer remittances PLUS being fined by the Labor Relations Board... this the RISK is so not WORTH it at least IMO!
I totally!!! agree with above post. To add, if I know anyone cheating the system and claiming for benefits I would and in fact I did in the past report them. Me and my husband are working very hard for our salary and we do not wish our taxes to go to someone who does not deserve! They are cheaters, they don't care about other people who really need help so why should we care about them and not report them.
I only issue receipts once per year, in February. If families wanted me to provide them weekly, I would, but nobody has ever asked.
Regarding Toronto, this may have well been the case in the past, but I personally know at least a dozen home daycare providers, and ALL of them without exception are on the books.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dayhome Mamma