When clients receive their T3 and T5 slips, be prepared to have an open and knowledgeable conversation with them should they ask why they are being asked to pay tax on the various income and/or capital gains amounts they've reported.
Sooner or later, every homeowner is going to face the decision that my neighbour is about to make. She is of an age and life stage where it makes sense to sell her house and move into a home that requires less upkeep and physical demands. Of course, deciding to move is only part one […]
In 1991, the federal government introduced fairness legislation, this legislation gives the CRA the discretion to cancel or waive either all or a portion of any interest or penalties (but not the actual tax) payable.
This is the last in a series of articles on tax-efficient investing. This series has merely scratched the surface of the topic, but demonstrates your clients’ portfolios can reap substantial benefits from a tax-aware approach.
An individual pension plan can be an effective vehicle for funding a business owner's retirement and minimizing their personal taxes. It can also play a part in corporate tax planning. And yet it remains something of a rarity in Canada.
The federal government has announced amendments to the Income Tax Act, to ensure that the spirit of its Tax Fairness Plan is followed. The Tax Fairness Plan was introduced in 2006 to stem the proliferation of income trusts, essentially treating their profits in the same way as corporate profits. “These proposed measures will ensure that […]
In matters of tax compliance, such as filing on time or ensuring you properly report all your income or ownership of foreign income-producing assets (where the cost amount is above $100,000), the penalties for not properly following the rules or for negligence are severe.
Earlier this year, one of Canada's largest employers boosted its workforce by thousands of people, without increasing its payroll by a cent. In fact, if you are a Canadian taxpayer or an accountant, lawyer, financial planner, investment advisor, or insurance agent - anyone who receives fees for assisting Canadian taxpayers with a tax plan that provides tax benefits - you have a new employer: the Canada Revenue Agency.
Reader Alert: This is a follow-up story to ‘Puppet Trustees’ Get a Second Chance. Two lower court rulings in the Garron Family Trust et al. v. The Queen case established central management and control of trust assets, rather than the residence of trustees, as the key test for determining the residence of a trust. That […]
The practice of sheltering income from Canada’s tax man by setting up what amount to nominal trustees in a tax haven like Barbados was dealt a severe blow in a recent court case. But the Supreme Court of Canada has decided to hear the case anew, a decision that may breathe new life into a […]