The recently enacted Underused Housing Tax Act[i] (UHTA) applies a one per cent tax on the ownership of vacant or underused housing in Canada. Per the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) published notification[ii] on Jan 17, 2023, “the vast majority of Canadian owners of residential property are excluded owners and, therefore,…
The beneficial ownership reporting for trusts (BORT) rules, originally announced in the 2018 Federal Budget on February 27, 2018, has made its way into the House of Commons. The original draft legislation released by Department of Finance on July 27, 2018 was updated on February 4th and on August 9th…
Today’s blog was written by Pritika Deepak, Associate at Fasken LLP. Several tax practitioners and professionals alike breathed a sigh of relief on November 3rd, 2022, when Parliament confirmed that the enhanced tax reporting obligations for trusts shall be postponed once more. As per draft legislation published on August 9,…
Proposed regulation subsection 204.2(1) of the Income Tax Act (ITA) introduces a requirement for all trusts, that are required to file a return of income, to provide additional information[1] for each person who, in the year, is a trustee (or protector[2]), beneficiary or settlor[3]. This additional information includes: name, address,…
The 2021 Federal budget[1] announced proposed changes to the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) to broaden its scope and provide more clarity. These proposed legislative changes are now law with an effective date of January 1, 2021[2]. The Disability Tax Credit A taxpayer has access to the DTC when Canada Revenue…
Discretionary family trusts used to be a staple in most private company corporate structures. The income splitting benefits were obvious, and professionals were more than happy to implement a family trust in almost any corporate structure. The popularity of using family trusts eventually led to complacency from some professionals in…
In a recent case in Tax Court, Lauria v HMQ 2021 TCC 66, the taxpayers, both officers and directors of a company held shares in the company as a result of employee share option agreements granted to them. In early 2006, the company founders decided to pursue an initial public…
The Old Age Security (“OAS”) pension is a monthly payment you can get if you are 65 years of age or older. In many cases, Service Canada will automatically enroll you in the year prior to your 65th birthday. To the occasional surprise of some folks, the receipt of OAS…
Proposed trust reporting rules I have read a number of articles published throughout 2021 stating that the new proposed trust reporting rules are coming. Under the proposed new trust reporting rules, express trusts are required to report the beneficial ownership information to Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and unless the Department…
Can an estate claim a loss for tax purposes if the estate sells the property for less than what it was valued for at time of death? Hard to imagine such circumstances in this current real estate environment but in the unlikely event it does occur, what are the rules?…
