BC is now three weeks into the social distancing protocol. It is becoming more obvious that the distancing will go on for another month if not longer. With this acknowledgement, the financial cost of this pandemic will reach financial crisis level when said and done. I am already reading about long existing local brands closing their doors just three weeks into the social distancing. Some businesses are likely closing down strategically. After all, if we are ... Read More
Vancouver Real Estate Investments – Personal or Corporate Ownership?
Difference Between Real Estate Development and Real Estate Investment
There is much confusion on the tax efficient way to hold real estate. The confusion is because taxpayers confuse real estate development with real estate investment. If a taxpayer is planning to buy a piece of land and build a new house or substantially renovate an existing house, this is real estate development, NOT real estate “investment”. The distinction is very important because the tax treatment of the ... Read MoreA Liquidity Crunch in Vancouver
Just two years back, when buying condo presales was the rage of investing free cash in Vancouver, I wrote a short blog cautioning investors to begin preparation years ahead for the closing date of the deal. When the condo completes, full payment of the balance on the condo is required to close the deal; hence qualifying for the mortgage at that future time required some income reporting planning. Back then, waiting for construction completion date to close the deal was not necessarily part ... Read More
Last Chance Tax Planning for 2018
As 2018 comes to an end, tax advisors across Canada are busy restructuring and planning many corporations to respond to the new tax rules that came into existence this year.
BC's New Tax Law Called Tax on Split Income (TOSI)
The biggest new tax law introduced this year is Tax on Split Income or TOSI for short. TOSI is so complicated that many tax advisors use a flowchart to visually follow the rules to assist in determining where the taxpayer stands with this rule this year. As ... Read MoreNon-Canadian Resident and Collecting Rental Income in Vancouver
Non-Canadian residents who own Canadian real estate and collecting rental income have two ways to deal with the Canadian tax liability.
The first method is remit to the CRA, 25% tax on the gross rent collected. This 25% is due to the CRA on the 15th of the following month the rental income was credited to the non-Canadian resident. This tax is considered the final tax liability on the rental income and the non-Canadian resident has no further obligation. However, the non-resident ... Read MoreDeath of a Taxpayer – A To Do List
Death of a family member is one of the most stressful events in life. To compound the grief, there are final tax matters to deal with either by April 30th of the following year or 6 months after the date of death.
What To Do Upon The Death of a Taxpayer?
Upon the death of a taxpayer, at a minimum, there is a final return (“terminal return”) to be filed with the CRA and three optional returns to be filed if desired. In addition, a trust return to report income received after death is ... Read MoreCloud Based Accounting: The Cloud, The Books, The Bookkeeper, and His Death
The use of cloud-based accounting software began to surface about five years ago, amongst my clients. Since then, I’ve seen more young entrepreneurs adopting software quickly and with minimum training. Accounting software, desktop or cloud-based, is supposed to be user friendly for non-accountants, and this has been the case since accounting software came onto the scene in the 1990s. Now, with cloud-based accounting platforms, the clumsy need to transfer an actual physical file to various users ... Read More
Capital Dividend Account Tax Planning: A Look at Proposed Changes
A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog under a similar title. At the time of my writing, our Finance Minister in Ottawa, Mr. Bill Morneau, had yet to surprise us incorporated small-business owners with his plan to eliminate tax planning tools commonly used by the incorporated self-employed. I will not go into all the proposed tax-rule changes, but I will discuss the one proposal that may impact the Capital Dividend Account tax planning I wrote about just before the announcement. One of the ... Read More
Non-Residents Selling Canadian Real Estate
As a non-resident, a little bit of extra tax planning is required when selling Canadian real estate.
