Tax Strategies

Boom, trust and echo

It’s a truism in the advisory business that client relationships can very often turn into family affairs. Building a sound relationship with one person can lead to relationships with spouses, close relatives and, eventually, the children. When we talk about clients, we often focus on baby boomers, the generation with the greatest numbers and the […]

By Michelle Munro |December 2, 2010

6 min read

Tax News

A late T1135 can be costly

I first wrote about this topic this past spring, but since then, taxpayers continue to get hit with severe penalties for not filing the form on time, notwithstanding that all their foreign income was fully declared and taxed on their personal tax returns.

By Jamie Golombek |November 17, 2010

5 min read

Tax News

Funding Boomer retirements

Life goes by so fast. Believe it or not but the oldest of the Baby Boomers are set to turn 65 in 2011. This will trigger the beginning of a rising wave of retirements that will peak within the next two decades. This global trend towards retirement is even more significant in Canada where the […]

By Wilmot George |October 27, 2010

6 min read

Tax News

An RESP strategy that works

In my last column, I wrote about the extraordinary unused potential of registered education savings programs (RESPs). I also discussed in general terms the importance of helping clients take advantage of federal and provincial grants and incentives to maximize tax sheltered savings for their children’s or grandchildren’s higher education. RESPs should appeal greatly to investors, […]

By Michelle Munro |October 1, 2010

5 min read

A late T1135 can be costly

A full seven more cases have landed in Federal Court concerning the late filing of the much-maligned Form T1135 – the Foreign Income Verification Statement. I first wrote about this topic this past spring (“Don’t be late!”Advisor’s Edge Report, April 2010), but since then, taxpayers continue to get hit with severe penalties for not filing […]

5 min read

The untapped potential of education savings

Any parent with children heading off to university knows that post-secondary education is an expensive business. This fall, students attending a first year arts program at a typical Canadian university can expect to pay upwards of $10,000 for tuition, fees, room and board. Now, take that first year cost, factor in inflation, multiply by four, […]

6 min read

Capitalizing on corporate mutual funds

Mutual Fund Corporations have been around for some time now but they really exploded on the scene about 15 years ago. Their popularity was sparked by astute advisors and clients looking for ways to reduce income taxes on investments. As a refresher, a mutual fund corporation is a single entity which establishes multiple share classes […]

5 min read

Avoiding questionable expenses

How careful are you, as an advisor, in ensuring the business expenses you claim each year at tax time are appropriate, reasonable and properly documented? A recent tax case decided in April (Platis v The Queen, 2010 TCC 150) involved Toronto advisor Peter Platis, a commissioned commodities and foreign exchange broker employed by Refco Futures […]

3 min read

Spousal loan pitfalls

Much has been written about the opportunity for family tax savings that can be achieved by shifting investments from a high taxpayer spouse (“spouse” also refers to a common-law partner) to a lower taxpayer spouse. One of the more popular strategies is the use of a spousal loan. This process requires the borrowing spouse to […]

6 min read

OAS clawback

If I received and subsequently invested a loonie for every client who has bemoaned the dreaded clawback of Old Age Security benefits because their retirement income is too high, the income ultimately generated from that investment alone could be enough to wipe out my own entire OAS benefits! The OAS program is an important component […]

3 min read