WCB sets 2011 maximum assessable earnings ceiling in N.S. • WSIB sets 2011 maximum insurable earnings in Ontario • Changes to Quebec’s CSST premiums coming in 2011 • QPIP premium rates finalized in Quebec • B.C.’s MSP premiums increasing • T4A slip redesign
NOVA SCOTIA
WCB sets 2011 maximum assessable earnings ceiling
The Nova Scotia Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) has set the maximum assessable/insurable earnings ceiling for 2011 at $52,000. The maximum is currently $50,800.
ONTARIO
WSIB sets 2011 maximum insurable earnings
The Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) has set the maximum assessable/insurable earnings ceiling for 2011 at $79,600. The maximum is currently $77,600.The board also announced that it is launching a one year funding review. The funding review panel will be seeking advice from employers, workers and labour groups.
QUEBEC
Reminder: Changes to CSST premiums coming in 2011
Effective Jan. 1, 2011, employers will have to pay CSST premiums to Revenu Québec instead of the Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST).Employers will pay the premium at the same time that they remit Quebec Pension Plan contributions, Quebec Parental Insurance Plan premiums and income tax deductions to Revenu Québec. To accommodate the new payment requirement, Revenu Quebec is adding a new box, labeled CSST, to its remittance slips. Employers will be required to calculate the premium and enter the amount remitted in the box. If the premium for a period is zero, employers will have to enter zero in the box. Also effective Jan. 1, 2011, CSST premiums will be based on an employer's actual payroll in the period rather than an estimate of its annual payroll as is currently the case. To calculate the premium, employers will have to multiply their assessable payroll for the remittance period by their CSST premium rate. Each year, by the end of October, employers will receive a notice (Décision de classification) informing them of their premium rate for the upcoming year. It is important that employers keep this information on file.To calculate the assessable payroll, employers will be allowed to deduct wages paid to individuals with personal coverage, salary or wages exceeding the yearly maximum insurable earnings and other amounts such as gross salary paid for part of a sick leave in which a worker is off for more than 105 consecutive days. Employers with workers in more than one classification group, will still have one premium rate, based on a weighted average of each group.
Employers will still be required to complete and submit a statement of wages form, showing the total assessable earnings for the previous year; however, employers will no longer be required to provide an estimate of earnings for the current year.
QPIP premium rates finalized
Premium rates for the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP) will increase next year, the Quebec government has confirmed. Effective Jan. 1, 2011, the premium rate for employers will increase from 0.708 per cent to 0.752 per cent. The rate for employees will increase from 0.506 per cent to 0.537 per cent.The government published the approved regulatory amendment to implement the changes in the Sept. 15, 2010, Quebec Gazette. The government had released the rates earlier this year as proposals in draft regulations. The government has not yet announced the maximum insurable earnings for 2011.
BRITISH COLUMBIA
MSP premiums increasing
Effective Jan. 1, 2011, British Columbia Medical Services Plan premiums (MSP) will be increased by $3.50 a month for single individuals and $7 per family. Current MSP premium rates are $57 for one person, $102 for a family of two and $114 for a family of three or more. New premium rates as of Jan. 1, 2011 are $60.50 for one person, $109 for a family of two and $121 for a family of three or more.
FEDERAL
Reporting retiring allowances
Starting in January 2011 (for the 2010 taxation year), employers must use the T4 slip instead of the T4A slip to report eligible and non-eligible retiring allowance amounts (including those amounts paid to Status Indians). This will reduce the burden of filing both a T4 slip and a T4A slip for many filers. The T4A slip will still be used to report these types of income for 2009 and prior years.
T4A slip redesign
The Canada Revenue Agency is redesigning the T4A slip to simplify reporting requirements, to reduce the burden for the filer, and to increase data quality. The slip will be converted from the existing fixed field format design to a generic style similar to the T4 slip. The 2010 version of the T4A slip will reflect the redesigned look and will accommodate T4A reporting requirements for all tax years.
Source: Canadian Payroll Manual, published by Carswell, a Thomson Reuters business.
