The Federal Government announced new changes to impacting
employees with stocks and eligible families who receive the Canada
Child Benefit. These changes come in effect in the 2021 calendar
year.
Employee Stock Options
The Government recently clarified the proposed changes to limit
the benefit of the employee stock option deduction. These rules
will be effective for stock options granted after June 30 , 2021.
An employee is subject to a taxable benefit if they acquire shares
of their employer under a stock option agreement and the fair
market value of the shares at the time of excise exceeds the amount
paid by the employee to acquire the shares. A stock option
deduction equal to 50% of the taxable benefit is available to
employees if certain conditions are met. Under the new rules, a
$200,000 annual limit is proposed on the amount of employee stock
option grants that can qualify for the 50% stock option deduction.
This restriction will apply to stock options in
