Small Business

Total 55 Posts

Safe Space: Governance in Action

For most businesses they evaluate their success by quarters or perhaps terms described as “short”, “medium” and “long”. For a family business, they measure success by ensuring the company is preserved for the next generation and beyond.  And despite the statistics which suggest that successfully transitioning a family business to the next generation is elusive, the goal for a large proportion of family businesses still is to transition the business….

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Business Succession Planning, Family Conflict, Small Business, Tax Issues

SHAREHOLDER REMUNERATION PLANNING

Business owners-managers put money in and take money out on a regular basis during the year, and at the same time often use the business bank account for what may appear to be personal expenditures. This often leads to shareholder advance balances at year end and some major bookkeeping challenges to boot. These balances are often part of the consideration to determine shareholder bonuses and dividends at year-end, the characterization….

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Canada Revenue Agency, Canadian and US Tax Treaty, Estate Planning, Investments, IRS, Small Business, Tax Issues, Uncategorized

Trust Allocations and Gifts to Family Members

A common estate planning technique is to structure a family trust which owns the shares of a small business corporation in such a way that allows each beneficiary (most commonly being members of the taxpayer’s immediate family – spouse and/or children) to participate in the sale or disposition of the business, thereby utilizing their life time capital gains exemption and potentially saving several hundred thousand dollars in taxes payable on….

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Business Succession Planning, Canada Revenue Agency, Estate Planning, Investments, Property, Small Business, Tax Issues, Trustee, Trusts, Uncategorized

Individual Pension Plans Revisited

A fellow blogger wrote very eloquently late last week about succession planning for family owned businesses. Regrettably, as she noted the statistics for the successful transfer of family businesses are not very good. With the introduction of the new tax proposals, the challenge for a successful transfer of business to the next generation has become even greater. One important aspect of succession planning is for the current owner/operator to be….

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Business Succession Planning, Canada Revenue Agency, Estate Planning, Small Business, Succession Planning, Tax Issues, Uncategorized

Control in the Valuation of Business Interests for Estate Planning

From time to time, I am asked to prepare, review or comment on structures for estate planning purposes with a mind to valuation issues. A common valuation issue is control and whether or not the value of the business interest(s) in the estate plan should be discounted for lack of control or should have premium attached to it because the holder of the business interest(s) do(es) have control. Valuators rely….

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Business Succession Planning, Canada Revenue Agency, Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Investments, Property, Small Business, Succession Planning, Tax Issues, Trusts, Uncategorized, Wills

Valuators – 2018 Might be a Very Good Year

I mentioned in my last blog that the government is proposing measures to limit the application of the lifetime capital gains exemption (“LCGE”) to owners of eligible small business corporations, based on age and “reasonableness”. Subject to certain exceptions, the proposals ensure that property held by a trust will no longer be eligible for the LCGE. Under the current proposals, there are transition rules which will permit a one-time multiplication….

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Canada Revenue Agency, Estate Administration, Estate Planning, In the News, Investments, Property, Small Business, Succession Planning, Tax Issues, Trusts, Uncategorized
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