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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: iTrade has notified me that I must apply for a TIN Number from USA if I trade PTB's or own them. Problem is I have no way of identifying if the stock is a PTP or not. The way I read it that would be all US stocks and the site they send me to (https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayer-identificaion-numbers-tin) basically says you need to become a US citizen. I run 3 accounts in in USD, Cash, RIIF ant TFSA. Do I have to abandon US investing??
Read Answer Asked by Burke on June 14, 2023
Q: I have received below email from Scotiaitrade since I have EPD shares in my RRSP account. My understanding was that in registered accounts I don't have to file a US tax return for PTPs disposition or distributions. I called Scotiaitrade and they did not provide any additional details for registered accounts and asked me to apply for US Tax Identification Number and consult my accountant for filing US tax return. Any details you may have would be appreciated.



In December 2022, Scotia iTRADE sent you an email advising of industry-wide changes that came into effect on January 1, 2023 and that impact your previous and/or current holdings of certain publicly traded partnership units (PTPs).

As part of these changes, a 10% withholding tax may be applied to certain distributions in addition to the usual 37% withholding tax on U.S. business income for non-U.S. persons. In the event of a disposition or transfer of the impacted PTPs a 10% withholding tax will also be applied to the gross proceeds in addition to the withholding tax on distributions.

Since you hold or have held impacted PTPs after January 1st, 2023, you must obtain a U.S. Tax Identification Number (TIN) and provide it to Scotia iTRADE by August 1, 2023. Scotia iTRADE is required to provide the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with your name and address as part of our obligation to report beneficial ownership of impacted PTPs and thereby assist the IRS with reconciliation of US tax filings on an annual basis.

We ask that you apply for a U.S. TIN as soon as possible and call Customer Service at 1 -888-872-3388, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET, to provide this information once you have received it.

If you have already obtained a U.S. TIN from the IRS though have not yet provided it to Scotia iTRADE, then please call Customer Service by August 1, 2023.

For help with requesting a U.S. TIN please refer to the following IRS website which outlines the application process: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/taxpayer-identification-numbers-tin and speak with your accountant and/or tax advisor should you have further questions.

Scotia iTRADE does not provide tax advice. If you have questions about the tax implications related to the PTPs held in your account, please consult with a tax advisor. If you have any questions about the transactions associated with the PTPs held in your account, please contact Customer Service at 1 -888-872-3388, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET.

Read Answer Asked by Ninad on June 01, 2023
Q: I have 400 BN with an ave cost of $39.24 and current price $42.16
I also have 2 BNRE-ave cost $56.18 and current price $42.56

What happens if I transfer the 2 BNRE into BN with the different average cost and current prices?
Would it be better to keep them separated?

thanks,

Paul
Read Answer Asked by Paul on May 29, 2023
Q: I wanted to gain some clarity on your answer to Terry indicating that the high dividend returns with these etf's are almost entirely return of capital. So if an investor holds these their yields would not be taxed as dividend income in a cash account but the cost base would diminish accordingly so that when sold the capital gain would be greater. But if a long term hold and if the yield continues to be return of capital then does the investor collect these yields effectively free of tax? Any other similar etf's with high yields that are largely return of capital? Am I missing something? Thank you for providing certainty on this.
Read Answer Asked by Ken on May 23, 2023
Q: If I were to use DLR and DLR.U to convert currency then would this trade need to be reported when filing taxes? I'm not sure as there would not be any capital gain or loss (am I right?) If I do need to report the trade then I assume that I could claim the commission as expenses? Please clarify. Thanks in advance.
Read Answer Asked by K on May 15, 2023
Q: Good evening,

Due to an oversight I have three dividend paying US equities in my cash account. These dividends are subject to withholding taxes.

I’m not sure if this is up your alley but can these stocks be switched with Canadian dividend stocks (of equal value) in my RRIF?

Thanks in advance for your help.
Read Answer Asked by Dave on May 02, 2023
Q: I owned shares in Arena Minerals, which was bought out by lithium Americas. What is my cost base for my LAC shares based on a purchase price of .276 per Arena share. How do I determine that? On my new statement showing the LAC shares the cost base shows as zero. I’ve never been involved in a buyout before. Thanks for the help as always.
Read Answer Asked by Bryan on April 29, 2023
Q: Hi I after reading Jason Heath's article in the March/April issue of Canadian Money Saver I became very confused about US withholding Taxes on US companies held in my RRSP.

Mr Heath stated:
"That said, in some cases, U.S. and foreign dividends can be subject to tax annually in an RRSP.
U.S. dividends paid to a Canadian resident’s RRSP can be tax-free if there is an up-to-date Form W8-BEN Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting on file with the brokerage. However, this tax exemption only applies to U.S. stocks owned directly or U.S.-listed ETFs that own U.S. stocks."

For many years I have held a lot of US dividend paying stocks in my self directed RRSP in US dollars. I was always under the impression that there is no US withholding tax on these dividends in a self directed RRSP and that the W8-BEN form was not required .

I know these are Mr Heath's comments and not your own, but can you please clarify.
Read Answer Asked by MANFRED on April 25, 2023
Q: I have recently come into some US cash. I would like to put some of it into a US TFSA account but am not sure if this would be prudent as, the US doesn't recognize the TFSA in the same manner as our RRSPs. If this is a good idea, what types of equities should be put into it: any type of US equity or Canadian stocks that pay dividends in USD?

As always, Thank you in advance for your advice
Read Answer Asked by Sean on April 25, 2023
Q: Confused about collecting US companies dividends in my RRSP
Read Answer Asked by MANFRED on April 24, 2023
Q: Hello 5i
I am a Canadian citizen and resident. I want to avoid US Estate tax on US stocks.
Which are the Canadian ETF providers that have ETFs containing US stocks?
Should I assume that Canadian branches of US ETF providers would still be vulnerable?
Do you have specific recommendations?
Many thanks for your ongoing great service !
Read Answer Asked by David on April 24, 2023
Q: Hi,
In 2021, I had to pay 40K of capital gain. On 2022 I have capital loss of 80K.
Is it possible to apply the carry back to 2021, so I can get my 40K back?
thanks
Read Answer Asked by Fernando on April 24, 2023
Q: In your excellent response to my question re a withdrawal stage senior moving dividend paying stocks to TFSA to allow dividends to grow tax free, you included this:
' ocapital gains, which are still taxed lower for most investors".
Taxes on dividends are paid yearly and capital gains taxed when the stock is sold. So aren't dividend stocks taxed "twice" dividends + capital gains, whereas non dividend stocks are only taxed on capital gains? I know I must be missing something here because the point about dividend tax being lower is a universal one.

For which investors are dividends taxed lower and for whom are they not? thanks for the education!
Read Answer Asked by M.S. on April 24, 2023
Q: Cathy Wood's ARKW ETF has a Canadian version being EAFT-NE. The EAFT has a different management company than the ARKW which Cathy Wood looks after. BDO was the accounting firm for the Canadian version of her funds until awhile ago. Now they do not have an accounting firm and they have run out of time to get one and so their funds are not allowed to trade. Would the Securities Commission be looking into this as me and many other owners would not be happy this is happening or once it trades will it mirror the ARKW which is the US version of it and it is trading?
On another note, my wife's broker advised that active short term traders would have to pay 100% tax on their gains.
Read Answer Asked by Dennis on April 17, 2023