Canada’s health care system is considered one of this country’s greatest achievements: because Canadian health care is delivered through a publicly funded health care system, which is mostly free and provided through private organizations, healthcare is usually extremely affordable and accessible to Canadian citizens. And while health care costs are usually paid through funding from income taxes, which might be a cause for complaint in other countries, a Strategic Counsel survey found that 91% of Canadians preferred the current healthcare system to a system more like the one that currently exists in the United States of America.
However, because the healthcare system is supported by income tax, small businesses often find themselves searching for income tax saving tips to both provide small business health benefits and avoid financial insolvency. One of the biggest challenges for small businesses in Canada is often related to the annual increase in the cost of traditional small business health insurance plans. After all, the Canadian health insurance system may mean no deductibles on basic health care and largely nonexistent co-pays, but a gap can often exist between the services automatically provided by the Canadian health care system and the health needs of its citizen. This gap is left to be filled by small business health insurance benefits. Thankfully, a health spending account can often serve as both a way to fill this need and as one of a few helpful small business tax tips.
A health spending account is a great option for many companies: health spending accounts can be used to cover a number of an employee’s health costs that might fall outside the lines of the traditional Canadian health care system. However, they are also a great choice for many small businesses because they are tax deductible and can save business owners money in the long run. This is the benefit of the Canadian health care system: even when a gap is left between services required and offered payment options, a method exists to both cover health care needs and save business owners money.
