Question

Simone Cherniak has just completed the second year of operating her veterinary clinic. You have been retained by Cherniak for tax assistance and advice. At a recent meeting, you gathered information on her practice, which is presented below.

For the year ended December 31, 2019, the clinic showed a profit of $149,700, as follows:

Professional service	$388,400
Gross profit from surgical instrument sales	33,900
	$422,300
Administration and other expenses	(276,200)
	146,100
Interest income	3,600
Net income	$149,700

Included in the above is depreciation/amortization expense of $27,800 on fixed assets and amortization of development costs of $5,300. Additional information is outlined below.

1.        On February 28, 2019, Cherniak purchased a competitor’s business and merged it with her own. The following assets were acquired:

Truck	$21,800
Equipment	60,500

2.        During the year, Cherniak designed and patented a new surgical instrument. On July 1, 2019, a legal fee of $4,800 was paid for the patent (life of 20 years) registration; this amount is included in administration expenses. In October, $19,400 was spent on consultants to research metal alloys, and this cost is being amortized as development costs in the financial statement.

3.        Professional services revenue includes the value of unbilled services compiled from a work-in-progress file. At December 31, 2019, unbilled services amounted to $19,400, compared with $2,500 at the same time last year. In 2018, Cherniak had made an election under section 34 of the Income Tax Act to exclude work in progress from income.

4.        Some of the items included under administrative and other expenses are as follows:

Group life insurance for office staff	$1,300
Christmas gifts to staff (under $200 each)	1,700
Dues to golf club (for employee)	1,400
Meals and drinks for clients	400
Books (15-volume set on veterinary medicine)	3,600
Interest on car loan (six months)	2,500
Finder’s fee for a loan to finance equipment	1,200

5.        The income statement includes a cost of $3,900 for attending three conventions during the year. Convention #1 ($900) was in July 2019. Conventions #2 ($1,700) and #3 ($1,300) were both in December 2019. Each convention includes a cost of ($140) for meals. For each of the December conventions, the airfare of ($290) was included in accounts payable at the end of the year.

6.        Vehicle costs include operating costs of $2,900 for the automobile (including $400 for car parking). The automobile was driven 24,000 km. Of this, 12,000 km was for customer travel, 2,000 km was for travel between her home and the clinic, and 10,000 km was for personal travel.

7.        Cherniak expects that a number of the new manufactured surgical instruments will be returned for modification, which she will do at no extra cost to the customer. The income statement includes a $2,400 deduction based on her estimate of the returns. As of December 31, 2019, $1,000 of costs were incurred for returned items.

8.        Cherniak moved from rented premises to new rented premises on February 28, 2019, with 20 months remaining on the old lease. The landlord accepted a payment of $9,700 in exchange for cancelling the lease. The accounting records have amortized this cost over the remainder of the lease term and accordingly have deducted $4,850 as rent expense.

9.        Capital cost allowance (CCA) for tax purposes has been correctly calculated as $18,200.

Required:

Determine Cherniak’s net income from business for tax purposes for the 2019 taxation year.

Answer 1

Cherniak's net income	Remarks	Value
Income as given		149,700
Legal fee included in administartive expenses	add back	4,800
less patent life - 20 years	4800 spread in 20 yrs	(240)
less: Professional service income - unbilled		(19,400)
Add back interest on car loan	car loan is personal expense	2,500
Vehicle operating expense	2900
Less cark park	-400
Vehicle expense other than parking fee	2500
Add back Personal - 10,000 km expense (2500/24000 X 10000)		1,042
Add back deduction included on cherniak's estimates for returns		2,400
less: Rent expense ammortized should have been charged fully		(4,850)
Total Income before taxation		135,952