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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: When I retired at age 60, I was told that I should drawdown my RRSP as much as possible before I started to collect CPP and OAS at 70. I have been doing this, but because my highest growth stocks (MSFT and COST) are in my RRSP, there has been no drawdown.

I know the general rule of thumb is to place your US dividend stocks in your RRSP. However, in my case I think I would be better off holding MSFT in my TFSA, and COST in either my TFSA and/or taxable account.

I would lose 15% of the MSFT dividend in my TFSA, but the dividend is so small, it doesn't matter.

COST is a little different because of the special dividend. If I put COST in a taxable account, I could recover the withholding tax when I file the following year although I would have to submit a T1135 if over 100K. But given that I anticipate most of the returns to be from price appreciation rather than dividends, it would be better in my TFSA up to my limit, with the remainder going into my taxable account.

Does this make sense? Thank you!

Read Answer Asked by Greg on March 15, 2024
Q: what yield would one need from an interest income investment to be equal to an 8% dividend for Canadian tax purposes? Thanks
Read Answer Asked by george on March 14, 2024
Q: Good morning,


I am not crystal clear on the most tax efficient account to hold each of the above listed ETFs and before moving any of them to another type of account, I would very much appreciate your guidance on the most tax efficient type of account to hold each of the above listed ETFs.

The above listed ETFs are all held in our family Registered (RRSP/TFSA/RESP) and Non-Registered accounts.

Thank you and I'll await your sage advice.
Read Answer Asked by Francesco on March 11, 2024
Q: Dear 5i
I`m sure i`ve asked this question before but i cannot find your answer to this question .
Do you have to include ETF's that are Canadian listed that hold US stocks such as HXS and ZSP as part of my foreign reporting re foreign assets on my taxes ?
Also i have 3 ETF's that apparently have Trust or Partnership income (ZLB,CDZ,ZSP ). I have not received this notification before from my brokerage firm so i'm assuming this is a relatively new structuring of these particular ETF's . That said , is trust and partnership income taxed more or less than other forms of income ? Are you taxed on this income derived from capital gains , dividend or interest income ?
Thanks
Bill C
Read Answer Asked by Bill on March 04, 2024
Q: Hamilton has the tax breakdown of their ETF's for 2023 posted on their website. I see both HMAX and UMAX distributions are 84% Return of Capital. This seems high. Do you think this is an aberration or potentially the norm? If an aberration, could you please quesstimate a percent range that you'd expect Return of Capital to usually be.
Read Answer Asked by Brent on March 01, 2024
Q: If I sold a stock for a capital loss and if is dual listed(ie. ccl.a &ccl.b) could I buy the other listed stock within the 30 day time frame and still keep my capital loss??
Read Answer Asked by terry on February 29, 2024
Q: According to the T3 published on the CDS listing for 2023, the Return of Capital for 2023 for HBND was 70.7% and for HPYT it was 48%. I'm holding them in non taxable accounts so the source of the dividends doesn't matter, but isn't that level of ROC completely unsustainable and will just mean an erosion in the NAV?
thanks
Read Answer Asked by John on February 29, 2024
Q: Have you any info on CRAs new requirement that any joint holdings and bank accounts between parents and children will now have to declare them as a BARE TRUST 507 and have til Mar 31st to register them and submit to them? Thanks
Read Answer Asked by FORREST on February 23, 2024
Q: Hello team,

I am considering doing a transfer of a stock from my margin account to my TFSA account but am not sure how this works.

Can you advise me how this is done and also, does it trigger a capital gain in my margin account if the stock has increased since it was purchased?

Thank you for your insights on this.
Paula
Read Answer Asked by Paula on February 16, 2024
Q: In deciding whether to carry forward a capital loss, is inflation a factor to consider? Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Martin on February 12, 2024
Q: I guess this is really a basic tax loss question. I wish to sell BNS in my non registered account which is mainly full of large dividend paying companies. Does it make sense to sell GSY ( at a profit ) , sell BNS ( at a loss ) and then rebuy GSY , thus taking advantage of tax loss provisions. It will also give me the advantage of a higher cost price for GSY for the inevitable sale. Should I do this procedure with the stock that has the most comparable gain to my BNS loss ?
Thanks. Derek.
Read Answer Asked by Derek on February 12, 2024
Q: I just bought BEP.UN in a non-registered account,shall the dividends be " fully taxed" ( equivalent to interest), if not how precisely will they be taxed ? Should I then switch for BEPC ? Thanks..
Read Answer Asked by Jean-Yves on February 12, 2024
Q: I have over 8000 shares of VFV in my NR, up about 50%. I am looking to hold for 20 years and not touch them. Unbeknownst to me when I bought them, I now realize there is a tax disadvantage compared to HXS. How much performance drag will occur from the tax disadvantage, and would it be worth the capital gains tax to sell and switch?

I could sell and incur huge capital gains on these shares, but I am not sure if it would be worth paying the capital gains to sell them and buy HXS.

My alternate plan going forward was to buy HXS with my dividends, instead of VFV.
Read Answer Asked by Joey on February 12, 2024
Q: Back on 1/20/2024, you thought that these companies (partnerships) would not have withholding tax in the states. I've since received communication from my broker that I have to arrange for a U.S. Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). They didn't indicate which holdings, but I do own these two companies. Has the company updated their advice? Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Brad on February 09, 2024