Tax Issues

Total 360 Posts

LIFE INSURANCE IN THE COVID-19 ERA

As someone who has been around the life insurance industry in a professional and personal capacity for several decades, I am always curious about what motivates people to buy or not buy life insurance. I understand that few people spend time thinking about the consequences of low-probability events and are therefore disinclined to consider the need for life insurance. I would have thought the COVID-19 pandemic would increase public awareness….

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Business Succession Planning, Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Funeral Planning, In the News, Insurance, Investments, Property, Tax Issues, Uncategorized

TFSA’s and Survivor Payments: Impact of Fair Market Value.

In this space, sometime ago, a fellow blogger wrote about how survivor payments made out of a deceased’s tax free savings account (TFSA)  to the deceased’s spouse TFSA would qualify as an “exempt contribution” (i.e. the contribution room in the surviving spouse’s TFSA would not be affected by the addition of these funds), even if the spouse was not designated beneficiary of the TFSA. What are the implications to the….

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Canada Revenue Agency, Estate Administration, Investments, Property, Tax Issues, Uncategorized, Wills

Low- Interest Environment: Time To Take Advantage Again.

In past blogs, we discussed income splitting arrangements available to individuals who wish to loan funds to his/her lower income spouse or adult child, or in the case of minor children, a discretionary family trust. Such loans would be used to invest in income producing properties such as marketable securities, mutual funds, real estate income trusts (to name a few). The income from these properties less the interest paid on….

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Business Succession Planning, Canada Revenue Agency, Estate Planning, Interest, Investments, Loans, Property, Real Estate, Small Business, Spouse, Tax Issues, Trusts, Uncategorized

Home Buyer’s Plan and Disabled Family Member

In a recent blog, I wrote about the availability of Home Buyer’s Plan (HBP) to an individual after the death of her spouse who purchased the matrimonial home. In a recent Technical Interpretation (2019-0819671E5, D. Odubella), the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) was asked by a taxpayer to review the availability of the HBP to purchase a home that is located in a district where their disabled daughter could attend a….

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Canada Revenue Agency, Dependant Support, Disability, In the News, Real Estate, Spouse, Tax Issues, Uncategorized

Time to Refreeze: Redux

The freezing of current share value so that your chosen successors can easily participate in the future growth of your enterprise is a common estate planning technique. What if the value of the frozen shares now exceeds the value of the enterprise as a whole? I wrote about this sometime ago and I think the current economic circumstances create an opportunity to revisit it. The Covid-19 crisis has lead to….

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

Clearance Certificates

An executor, as the legal representative of the estate, is required to obtain a clearance certificate before distributing property that they control. Where the executor fails to obtain a clearance certificate, they are liable for any unpaid amounts in respect of any property distributed. Some will argue that not every estate needs a tax clearance certificate, but a recent court case highlights the kind of trouble an executor can get….

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Canada Revenue Agency, Estate Litigation, Executors, Passing Of Trustees’ and Executors’ Accounts, Tax Issues, Uncategorized, Wills
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