Total 42 Posts
This year’s STEP conference featured over 65 speakers including for the very first time, the IRS spoke on Canadian soil about offshore compliance options including OVDP and streamlined compliance procedures…..
Happy Independence Day ! Continue Reading »
Estate Planning, IRS, Tax Issues, U.S. Citizen, US TaxesSometime ago, a relative of a Canadian taxpayer died in the US and she left her money in a charitable trust, with some of the income bequeathed to the Canadian taxpayer annually. The trust income is derived mostly from US dividends. With a series of proposed adjustments to her personal tax returns, the taxpayer asked the Canada Revenue agency (“CRA”) why this income could not be treated as dividend income….
INCOME FROM A U.S. TRUST: CAN IT EVER BE TREATED AS DIVIDEND INCOME? Continue Reading »
Canada Revenue Agency, Canadian and US Tax Treaty, Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Interest, Investments, Tax Issues, Trusts, United States, US TaxesAs winter finally sets in for us Canadians and our Canadian snowbirds begin to head south, we often see an increase in interest among our clients with the concept of owning a home in the southern USA. While the Canadian dollar may make this somewhat unattractive at the moment and perhaps for the foreseeable future given some recent forecasts, there will always be deals to be had and emotional decisions to be made. As a result, I take this blog as an opportunity to remind readers of the implications of owning a US vacation property…..
FLYING SOUTH FOR THE WINTER Continue Reading »
Estate Planning, Real Estate, United States, US TaxesThe Huffington Post reports that over a third of foreign buyers of real estate in Florida are Canadians. Another article reports that Canadians are the leading buyers of US real estate. In earlier blogs I’ve talked about the specter of US estate taxes that arises when a Canadian dies owning US situs property, like real estate. Besides this complexity, the ownership of foreign property raises the potential for challenges in the administration of an estate. As a result, when developing an estate plan that includes foreign real estate it is important to consider a number of issues, some of which are…….
OWNERSHIP OF FOREIGN PROPERTY Continue Reading »
Canadian and US Tax Treaty, Estate Administration and Probate Applications, Estate Planning, Power of Attorney, Probate Tax, United States, US Taxes, WillsAs world attention appears to be increasingly focused on the economic news coming from the United States, and the various political debates in that country regarding deficit reduction and tax policy, I thought it would be interesting and timely to draw readers attention to a recent Reuters article that profiles a leader of the U.S. political movement to repeal estate taxes…..
U.S. Estate Tax Debate Continues Continue Reading »
United States, US TaxesThere is no global test for capacity. Capacity is a task specific concept. The threshold capacity for making a Will is not necessarily the same as may be required for managing a simple bank account or for providing investment instructions in respect of a multi-million dollar portfolio. What should we be looking for when dealing with older clients wishing to prepare a Will?….
Coffee, Bicycle, Purse Continue Reading »
Capacity Law, Estate Planning, U.S. Citizen, United States, US Taxes