Tax Strategies

Decorative pattern

Tax News

Employment versus self-employment

Alex recently lost his job with a local plumbing company. After several weeks off, he was approached by a competing firm, Charlie’s Plumbing Agency, with an offer for his services. The offer was an interesting one — Alex could choose to work as part of a contract of service, or he could enter into a […]

By Wilmot George |June 17, 2009

6 min read

Decorative pattern

Tax News

Taxing transaction fees

I’m asked regularly about whether commissions received by an advisor on the sale of life insurance and/or investment products for his or her own personal use are taxable. A 2003 tax case—Delisle v The Queen, 2003 TCC 751—dealt with such an advisor. Gilbert Delisle, an executive at Sun Life, became self-employed after leaving in July […]

By Jamie Golombek |June 1, 2009

3 min read

Decorative pattern

Market Insights

Income planning case studies

Proper retirement planning requires planning for the worst, so deciding what to focus on in a retirement plan is no easy task. More often than not, financial planners think in terms of accumulation. But, once you switch from the accumulation stage to the distribution stage, the math is entirely different. While you can talk about […]

By Jim Otar |April 7, 2009

4 min read

Decorative pattern

Tax News

How income splitting produces tax savings

Any tax-planning strategy has but a simple goal: to increase the amount of money left in one’s pocket. In the case of couples, whether they are married or living in a common-law arrangement (including same-sex couples), this could mean increasing the combined after-tax income of the couple. When the spouses are in different marginal tax […]

By Michelle Munro |April 1, 2009

6 min read