- January payroll liabilities due February 15.

- T4s, T4As etc. must be given to employees and other individuals providing services no later than February 29.

- Copies of all T4s, T4As etc. and their respective Summaries must be sent to CRA no later than February 29.

- Provide all donors with their charitable tax receipts no later than February 29. If you have a fiscal year-end that is not December 31st, you must still complete charitable tax receipts for all donors because these receipts are issued on the calendar year of January 01 to December 31.

- If you have not already done so, submit your application for the GST/HST Rebate. Links for the required forms (new forms this year) and instructions can be located on our Links page.

The following are for those with a December 31 year-end:

- If using the accrual bookkeeping method, pay close attention when reconciling the January and February bank statements to ensure all expenses are credited to the proper year.

- Finalize financial statements in preparation for the Annual General Meeting. If the meeting has already taken place, finalize any draft reports that may have been used as they will be needed for archive purposes and also for submitting to CRA with your Registered Charity Information Return.

- Prepare a list of counters for the offering counting teams to be used during the upcoming year and have this list approved by the new Board.

- Prepare a counters schedule as far in advance as possible in order to assist them with planning to be available when needed.

- December payroll liabilities due January 15. Since this date falls on a Sunday, the due date shifts to the next business day which is Monday January 16.

- Have books audited and prepared for the Annual General Meeting (if you are on a December 31 year end).

- Begin processing 2011 charitable tax receipts for donors.

- Complete and submit Form GST66 to obtain your GST Rebate and if you are in a participating province you use the same Form GST66 to claim the federal portion of your HST Rebate. This form can be located on our Links page.

- Additionally for those in a participating province, complete and submit Form RC7066 to claim the provincial portion of your HST Rebate. This form can also be located on our Links page and the two forms are mailed together in the same envelope.

(Participating provinces are Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and British Columbia.)

Donations received on January 1, 2012 are considered to be received in 2012 even if the cheque is dated in December, 2011,

The only situation where such donations can be receipted for 2011 are when they are mailed in December and there is a Canada Post postal mark on the envelope with a December date. In such cases the envelope should be retained in your records. When preparing to deposit these cheques in January, use a separate deposit to keep them separate from your January 1st offering.

If your church is holding a New Year's Eve service (December 31) and donations are received, these funds would also be deposited in January but separately from your January 1st offering. The December 31st donations would be receipted for 2011 while the January 1st offering would be receipted for 2012.

The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, today announced the automobile expense deduction limits and the operating expense benefit rates for 2012.

The limit on the deduction of tax-exempt allowances paid by employers to employees using their personal vehicle for business purposes will increase by 1 cent to 53 cents per kilometre for the first 5,000 kilometres driven and to 47 cents for each additional kilometre.

The rates for Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are traditionally set 4 cents higher and they will also increase by 1 cent to 57 cents for the first 5,000 kilometres driven and to 51 cents for each additional kilometre.

The rate used to determine the taxable benefit for the personal portion of automobile operating expenses paid by employers will increase by 2 cents to 26 cents per kilometre. The automobile standby charge for employer-provided vehicles, which is not affected by this announcement, is calculated separately and is also included in the employee's income.

While the above will be sufficient for most churches, additional details for specific situations including capital cost allowance, leasing costs, interest costs, etc. may be viewed on the Department of Finance Canada website.

When preparing your 2012 budget you may want to keep in mind that this will be one of those rare years containing 53 Sundays.

Usually there are four months per year with five Sundays, but in 2012 there will be five such months: January, April, July, September, and December.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced today that the maximum pensionable earnings under the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) for 2012 will increase by $1,800, going from $48,300 to $50,100.

Contributors who earn more than $50,100 in 2012 are not required or permitted to make additional contributions to the CPP.

The basic exemption amount for 2012 remains $3,500. Individuals who earn less than that amount do not need to contribute to the CPP.

The employee and employer contribution rates for 2012 will remain unchanged at 4.95%.

Full particulars may be viewed on the CRA website at: Maximum Pensionable Earnings For 2012.