Poker, Kilimanjaro and Granting Wishes
Last year, we helped raise funds for the Make-A-Wish foundation with our journey to basecamp Everest, and this year, our wishes take us to Mount Kilimanjaro over a game of Poker.
First, let me take a moment to thank all of you for your encouragement and generosity; thanks to you, we collected $3500 at last year’s fundraiser (Wish Upon Everest: Wishes Come True..).
Montrealing is asking for your support in helping a very dear friend of our team, Line Abrahamian, in her fundraising efforts. Line will be joining a team of 25 climbers and will climb mount Kilimanjaro to raise $250,000 for the Make-A-Wish foundation.
In order to raise funds, Line has organized a Texas Hold’em Poker tournament! On October 23rd, you have the chance of helping grant the wishes of many little angels over a game of Poker at the Four Aces Casino in Kahnawake. Now wait ’til I tell you what you can win!! First prize is $5000, second prize is a 5 day trip to Las Vegas and the third prize is valued at $2000. Oh, and did I mention that the food and alcohol are included? The game is at 1 p.m., ticket is $125 in advance ($150 at the door), and re-buys are at $60. Places are limited so hurry up and get your tickets.
All proceeds go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. See you all there!
For tickets, call:
Line: 514-966-0579
or
Tamar: 514-892-0363
For more information, check out the event page on Facebook.
Directions to Four Aces:
Autoroute 20 to Mercier Bridge towards Chateauguay (Route 138 West). Take a left at the traffic light into the large parking (Approx. 3km). Just 10 minutes from Downtown Montreal. Plenty of free parking! (www.fouracespoker.ca ; 450-638-7653).
The Montreal Grand Prix Never Left
The hot story right now is that the Montreal Grand Prix is back. I personally knew that they would be back one day or another, and that Bernie Ecclestone would realize his mistakes.
Montreal’s own: Roads
As I previously got you dreaming (I hope) by introducing you to Roads, I now invite you to go meet them and see them live in concert.
Indie Montreal presents Howard Jennings from New York (debuting his new live material) and Montreal’s own… Roads.
On Friday November 27th 2009, they will all be performing at the Jupiter Room on St-Laurent. This is your chance to meet Garen, Iris, Alfred and Adam. You won’t regret to hear the beautiful sounds and to watch Iris work those drums.
Tickets are already on sale on http://www.indiemontreal.ca. Hurry! They’ve been on sale since November 12th. Special price of 7$ or 4 for 19$, if you get them in advance, and 10$ if you get them at the door.
Friday, November 27th 2009 at 8:30 pm at the Jupiter Room
3874 St-Laurent
See you all there!
If Reno’s on Your Mind, The GVT Can Be Kind
What is it? = HOME RENOVATION TAX CREDIT
The Home Renovation Tax Credit (HRTC) is a non-refundable tax credit on eligible expenses for improvements to your house, condo or cottage. It can be claimed on your 2009 income tax return and it`s for eligible purchases made after January 27, 2009, and before February 1, 2010. A maximum amount of eligible expenditures you can claim is $10,000 per family.
What does non-refundable tax credit mean?
A non-refundable tax credit, like the HRTC, reduces your federal income tax. If the total of all your non-refundable tax credits is more than your federal income tax, a refund will not be given for the difference.
What`s an eligible purchase?
Eligible purchases are those incurred for renovations/alterations to an eligible dwelling (which is usually your principal residence or land of principal residence) and are permanent in nature.
As a general rule, if an expense for the house will not be a permanent part of your home or property, it’s not eligible.
Obviously, there are some small exceptions to this rule which we’ll talk about below.
And as a strict rule, if the expenses are not in writing (invoice or contract) you can forget about it`s eligibility. The CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) is pretty severe on this point.
Examples of eligible expenses
- Renovating a kitchen, bathroom, or basement
- Windows and doors
- New carpet or hardwood floors
- New furnace, woodstove, fireplace, water softener, water heater, or oil tank
- Permanent Home ventilation systems
- Central air conditioner
- Septic systems
- Electrical wiring in the home
- Home Security System (monthly fees do not qualify)
- Painting the interior or exterior of a house
- Building an addition, garage, deck, garden/storage shed, or fence
- Re-shingling a roof
- A new driveway or resurfacing a driveway
- Permanent swimming pools (in ground and above ground), hot tub and installation costs/ Pool liners
- Solar heaters and heat pumps for pools (does not include solar blankets)
- Landscaping: new sod, perennial shrubs and flowers, trees…
- Associated costs such as installation, permits, professional services, equipment rentals, and incidental expenses
- Fixtures – blinds, shades, shutters, lights, ceiling fans, etc.
Examples of ineligible expenses… SORRRYYY!
- Furniture, appliances, and audio and visual electronics, tools
- Carpet/house/pool cleaning
- Maintenance contracts (i.e. furnace cleaning/snow removal/lawn care)
- Financing costs
Other useful info about the eligible expenses:
- Work performed by electricians, plumbers, carpenters, architects qualifies as long as it`s in writing (invoice or contract)
- If a family member is hired for renovations the expense can ONLY be eligible if that person is registered GST/PST.
How to calculate your HRTC?
Basically you can only claim the HRTC if your eligible expenses are more than $1 000, but there`s a cap of $10 000. So that maximum you could possibly get in HRTC is as follows ….don`t worry it`s not that complicated:
=($10 000 − $1 000) × 15% = 1 350$ maximum HRTC (I MEAN IT`S SOMETHING !)
Here`s a cool comprehensive simulation:
Joe & Annie just got married and bought a condo. They plan to renovate it this summer. They expect these expenses for the reno which will take place from September to November 2009:
- New windows: $3,000
- Labour – installation of windows (no invoice) :$1,500
- Carpet cleaning: $200
- Buying tools: $500
- New roof: $3,500
- Interior painting: $500
- New toilet and tub: $600
- New deck: $1,000
To save money, they will do most of the home renovations themselves. Joe’s friend Rob will install the windows for them for $1,500 cash, BUT he won`t give an invoice (duhhhh).
The $200 expense for carpet cleaning and the $500 expense for tools are NOT eligible for the HRTC. And the $1 500 in window installation is NOT eligible either because it`s not in writing.
Basically, this is how they would calculate their HRTC:
| Eligible expenses |
Amount |
| New windows |
$3,000 |
| New roof |
$3,500 |
| Interior painting |
$500 |
| New toilet and tub |
$600 |
| New deck |
$1,000 |
| Total eligible expenses(TEE) |
$8,600 |
| Maximum eligible expenses (lesser of TEE or $10,000) |
$8,600 |
| Base amount |
- $1,000 |
| Maximum allowable home renovation expenses |
$7,600 |
Either Joe or Annie can claim the total home renovation expenses of $7,600 or they can split these expenses between them as long as the total amount claimed is not greater than $7,600. Their maximum HRTC is $1,140 ($7,600 x 15%).
Why is this suddenly only available this year?
Well the CRA wants to get the economy rolling by encouraging investments in Canada’s housing, giving employment to trades people and increasing sales of building products. And because claiming an HRTC implies getting things in writing, the CRA is also cracking on the renovation black-market by creating a disincentive to chose the “Cheaper for cash” option.
So if you were thinking about renovating… TRY TO DO IT NOW! This tax credit is only temporary (i.e. only for 2009 so far) so help stir up our economy.
Reference: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/hrtc
Tout le Monde Écoute
Dimanche 4 octobre 2009, cotes d’écoute au Québec:
simultanément à 20h:
Occupation double: 1,7 millions
Tout le monde en parle: 1,5 millions
1,7 M + 1,5 M = 3,2 millions, la population du Québec étant de 7,8 millions.
Est-ce qu’il y a vraiment la moitié de la population qui écoute sa télévision à cette heure là!?
p.s. parlant de chiffres, un dont on sûr par contre, c’est le plus d’un million de visionnements pour le lipdub de l’UQAM!
Et ça n’arrête pas d’augmenter et on en parle partout ! Hier encore, je me promenais dans l’université et deux professeurs la présentaient à leurs étudiants! «On aime le U surtout le Q, À Montréal !»