Outstanding Shareholder Loan
It is very common for owner-managers to draw funds from their company during the year and find themselves with an outstanding shareholder loan at year end. These balances are often cleared up by recording dividends or bonuses to the shareholders and the problem is solved. If the loan is not repaid during the fiscal year […]
Changes to the Principal Residence Exemption
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) made a major change to the Principal Residence Exemption that affected Canadians when filing their 2016 tax returns. Regardless of whether the sale is exempt or not, individuals are now be required to report the sale of their principal residence on their personal tax return. Under the Principal Residence Exemption […]
Split Income
Proposals from the Department of Finance on July 18, 2017 included changes to the taxation of split income. The most common form of split income is income from a dividend from a related entity that is not excluded from being categorized as such. Prior to 2018, shareholders of privately held companies over the age of […]
Protecting Treasured Family Assets with Life Insurance
An estate can pay up to 24% on any capital gains and up to 48% on any of the registered pension, RRSP and RRIF balances that it receives. This tax can be deferred if assets with capital appreciation and registered funds are transferred to a surviving spouse. Life insurance can become an economic tool Often one of […]
Changes to the Eligible Capital Property Rules Effective January 1, 2017
Eligible capital property (ECP) includes items such as goodwill, patents, trademarks, customer lists and other intangibles with no fixed lifespan. As of January 1, 2017, the new rules for eligible capital property will come into effect and will have a significant impact on tax deferral opportunities for companies that dispose of eligible capital property. Previous […]
Graduated Rate Estates – New Rules for 2016
Starting for 2016 taxation years, inter vivos trusts, trusts created by will and certain estates will be subject to the top taxation rate. There are two exceptions to this change: graduated rate estates and qualified disability trusts. Graduated tax rates will still apply to these types of estates and trusts. Income earned and retained in […]
The Enlightened Investor: Powers of Attorney for Property
A power of attorney for property is a written document by which a grantor appoints an attorney to act as a substitute decision maker with respect to the grantors property or financial affairs. This grant of power becomes effective immediately upon the grantor signing the document unless otherwise indicated. While a General Power of Attorney […]
Estate Planning Gifting Strategy
An estate planning gifting strategy is basically when you start to give away some of your assets prior to death in order to optimize taxes within the family. Usually, an estate planning gifting strategy refers to how we will distribute our assets when we die. But you might be overlooking significant tax savings by not considering […]
Why should I review my Unanimous Shareholder Agreement?
If you haven’t reviewed your Unanimous Shareholder Agreement (USA) recently, here are 3 excellent reasons why you should do so: In 2006, the Federal Budget introduced a second dividend rate. Corporate earnings in Alberta, up to $500,000 are taxed at 14%; when a dividend is paid to an individual shareholder this “ineligible-dividend” is taxed as […]
Charitable Giving
When we give, it can be the $20 thrown into a collection or perhaps the $100 we gave to a registered charity with a charitable receipt provided back to us to acknowledge our contribution. Alternatively, one can give thousands, tens of thousands, or more if they so desire. However, the icing on the cake is […]