Tax Issues

Total 358 Posts

Will Planning for Beneficiaries

In what might be one of the last pipeline transactions my office will advise on (depending on the outcome of the Government of Canada tax proposals), I ran into an unfortunate situation which served to highlight a fundamental aspect of estate planning: Planning for your beneficiaries. Recently, I reached out to the beneficiaries of the estate I am working on to determine their personal tax positions for this current year…..

Will Planning for Beneficiaries Continue Reading »

Business Succession Planning, Disability, Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Tax Issues, Trusts, Uncategorized, Wills

Morneau Stands Firm on Tax Proposals

Minister of Finance Bill Morneau (“Morneau”) met with small-business owners in British Columbia earlier this week to hear their complaints about and concerns with the tax proposals which were launched on July 18, 2017. With a consultation process of only 75 days, doctors, farmers, small business advocacy groups and various professional associations have been quickly digesting the significant proposed changes and making their views known about the negative impact these….

Morneau Stands Firm on Tax Proposals Continue Reading »

Tax Issues

GIFTS – Some Additional Thougths

Recently, I wrote about the gifting of cash or assets during one’s lifetime as an alternative method of distributing your wealth (beyond what you need to live on comfortably) and possibly avoid taxes (probate, income etc.) at time of death. I suggested that your heirs could use the funds in a manner that will likely cost less tax: For example pay down some personal debt, apply it as a deposit….

GIFTS – Some Additional Thougths Continue Reading »

Canada Revenue Agency, Charitable Giving, Estate Litigation, Estate Planning, Family Conflict, Investments, Joint Tenancy, Loans, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Probate Tax, Property, Real Estate, Tax Issues, Trusts, Uncategorized

Principal residence exemption and fire loss

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) was asked to comment on the availability of the principal residence exemption (PRE) when a previously occupied property is destroyed by fire and a decision is made to sell the property in a later year. The taxpayer purchased a house in 2010 which was ordinarily inhabited as a principal residence.  In 2016, the house was completely destroyed by a fire and the taxpayer decided to move….

Principal residence exemption and fire loss Continue Reading »

Canada Revenue Agency, Cottage, Executors, Property, Real Estate, Tax Issues, Uncategorized

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….

Valuators – 2018 Might be a Very Good Year Continue Reading »

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

Fair Tax Plan is Not Fair

When I was a child I would get together with kids in the neighborhood and we would play games like racing toy cars. Someone would call out the rules and the games would go for hours to the delight of our parents. On occasion one of the kids would do something that appeared to others as outside the rules which would be greeted with howls of protest “… not fair”…..

Fair Tax Plan is Not Fair Continue Reading »

Estate Planning, Executors, Succession Planning, Tax Issues, Uncategorized
Scroll to Top