Tax Strategies

Defining pre-business activity tax claims

When does a business become a business for tax purposes? This question is fundamental to knowing when to write off losses associated with a business activity against other income on your personal tax return.

By Jamie Golombek |November 10, 2011

3 min read

Tax News

Boom, trust and echo II

Here's a question to see how closely you've been reading my column. How many of you remember Ashley, the prototypical echo boomer profiled in December 2010?

By Michelle Munro |October 31, 2011

6 min read

Tax News

RESP withdrawals 101

What you need to know

By Michelle Munro |October 4, 2011

6 min read

Tax Strategies

Tax savings tips for students

Tuition fees for undergraduate programs continue to rise in Canada

By Frank Di Pietro |September 20, 2011

5 min read

Selling your book? Keep your receipts for tax time

We’re about to enter tax season. Not only will clients be calling with tax return preparation questions, but now is also a good time to get a head start on your own tax return by gathering documentation, slips and other records needed to substantiate your own business expenses.

4 min read

Watch the taxes on foreign investments

When clients receive their T3 and T5 slips, be prepared to have an open and knowledgeable conversation with them should they ask why they are being asked to pay tax on the various income and/or capital gains amounts they've reported.

3 min read

Neighbourly advice on tax-efficient income

Sooner or later, every homeowner is going to face the decision that my neighbour is about to make. She is of an age and life stage where it makes sense to sell her house and move into a home that requires less upkeep and physical demands. Of course, deciding to move is only part one […]

6 min read

Dealing with mental incapacity

As advisors, you are probably meeting next generation relatives of your long-term clients. These new contacts may play an important role in your continued relationship with your client, as the client’s “representative” (the attorney appointed by a “Power of Attorney” in most provinces, or the mandatory appointed by a “Mandate in anticipation of Incapacity” in Quebec) for financial and legal matters if your client becomes mentally incapable.

4 min read

Double-check your returns

In matters of tax compliance, such as filing on time or ensuring you properly report all your income or ownership of foreign income-producing assets (where the cost amount is above $100,000), the penalties for not properly following the rules or for negligence are severe.

4 min read

Managing a financial windfall

What are the odds that you or someone close to you will enjoy a financial windfall during your lifetime? If you’re counting on winning a lottery, the odds are ridiculously bad. For example, the chance that you could draw the right six numbers out of a set of 49 in one of the big national lotteries is somewhere in the range of one in 14 million.

4 min read