Local business owner says she’s afraid for her shop this tax season

“We can’t, none of us could apply for it. Cause it would’ve been just stupid, it doesn’t make sense. We don’t know what strings are attached cause there’s always strings attached.”

She continues to refuse help because she can’t afford to pay it back. Including grants and small business loans.

“Owners that are the mom and pop shops–which is what we are–we don’t have the ability to pay back $30,000 in a year or two years.”

McClusky says that the government hasn’t done enough to help small shops like hers be able to stay open during the pandemic.

“You’re not there for small, small businesses. The moms and pops across Canada need our governments to step forward and make it easy for us as we wander and try and make it through the next year and hope to god to make it here. “

Her shop isn’t the only one that’s experienced this problem.

KPMG Tax Partner, Stan Mitchell, says its a common theme among small business owners.

“It’s been a real difficult year as well, just the number of programs that are out there. The complexity for applying for them, the potential mistakes.”

He says that even if owners are fearful of making mistakes, they should still file their taxes promptly.

“If you’re in that big of a rush, thinking ‘I just can’t get it done and I’m overwhelmed,’ just get it done to the best of your ability and you can always make changes later.”

But during the busiest time of the tax season, McClusky says she can only trust herself to keep Topaz open.

“I wouldn’t do it if my life depended on it. I wouldn’t do it myself. There’s no way I would go to a professional because there’s so much at stake. They can swoop in literally and shut your doors, sell everything you got to pay your debt. We’re not going down in that position. We just can’t, we just can’t.”

by Oli Herrera

Local business owner says she’s afraid for her shop this tax season

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