Investment Q&A

Q: Hello, I know your are not tax expert, but I risk myself asking because I am sure other members will receive a similar letter from their online broker. This is about the new US regulation code 1446. The letter I received today says:

Changes to the U.S. Taxation of Publicly Traded Partnerships.

New US regulations taking effect on January 1, 2023, will result in new withholding taxes for sales of publicly traded partnerships by non-US account holders.

Once these rules take effect in 2023, when a non-US national sells an interest in a publicly traded partnership, 10% of the gross proceeds of the sale will be withheld. The withholding taxes will be remitted to the US Treasury, and the non-US national will be responsible for filing a US income tax return and claiming any potential refund of the amount withheld.

Not all publicly traded partnerships will be subject to withholding. However, at this point it is difficult to say which publicly traded partnerships will and will not fall within the scope of the new rules...

I did phone my online broker to know more. I was told that I have two companies in my account affected by this: BEP.UN-CA and BIP.UN-CA. Even if they are held in a RRSP, these will be subjected to the new tax if I sell after January 1, 2023. I argued that these are Canadian companies, but they replied that because they are limited partnership and trade on both the Canadian and US markets the new 1446 regulation will apply.

According to what you know of Brookfield, is that true that this new tax will apply on both BIP.UN-CA and BEP.UN-CA starting from January 1, 2023? Thank you,

Q: FYI - I just received a notice from TD of "Potential changes coming to publicly traded partrneships from January 1, 2003" stating that a 10% US withholding tax may be levied on dispositions of and distributions from all Publicly Traded US and CND Partneships held by non US persons in ANY account type including RRSPs, TFSA, RIFs, RESPs........it then goes on to say that BIP, BEP and BBU do not expect non-US investors to be subject to US withholding tax.

Q: If zwk is in my rrif account,is there a withholding tax?

Q: Wondering what has happened with this company. It is now in US funds and no longer halted. Noticed some trading yesterday and today none. Will this be difficult to sell and do you see this trading again. If it does I'm assuming one should sell. Would there be any point in hanging onto it. Also, if no one is buying/selling what is process for getting rid of it to claim a loss? Thank you!

Q: Hi
can you recommend a proxy for zem for tax loss harvesting?
thanks

Q: Hi
I am down quite a bit on SNN? I am temped to sell for a tax loss and replace with xlv or IHI but am concerned that xlv or ihi as etfs do not have the same bounce potential as snn. is there another healthcare stock you can recommend or would you replace with xlv or ihi?
thanks

Q: Tudor spun out some assets to Goldstorm, and I now own some Goldstorm shares, in addition to the Tudor shares. It seems the transaction simply took some of my cost base, and applied it as cost to the new shares. Am I reading this right? Basically, nothing has changed, right? Or will I need to record a capital transaction on Tudor?

Q: One of your subscribers said this in a question answered today, "I own 500 shares of TOU. Because I bought them a couple years ago and trimmed as they rose, my dollar cost average on these shares is zero!!" Is dollar cost average different from book value and if it is not, how does it go to zero?

Q: Below is an email from Interactive Brokers.
"As a result of recent US legislation under Internal Revenue Code Section 1446(f), gross proceeds from sales of and certain distributions from Publicly Traded Partnerships ("PTPs") held by non-US tax residents (both individuals and entities) will be subject to 10% withholding starting on January 1, 2023."

It is not clear to me that the 10% withholding tax is on the distributions only or 10 % tax will also be applicable to the total proceeds amount when I sell it ?
The company involved in my case is ET but can also be applicable to other publicly traded partnerships.
Thanks for looking into this.

Q: I know that for tax relief purposes it would be best to hold US investments(equities) in registered accounts. Due to age I am being forced to deregister and into unregistered and to a lesser extent TFSA's.
Employing ETF's for these and future holdings I have a question relative to ETF's that are sold on the TSX but actually hold units of similar US ETF's. Are these Canadian ETF's eligible for withholding tax relief and or Dividend Tax Credit?
Thanks

Q: if you have a drip on a US company . do they still deduct the non resident tax

Q: Which of these stock or ETF's (Bam.a, FTS, SLF, MOAT, VXC, XBB) in my non registered portfolio would you sell and then buy back in TFSA?
Thanks for your help.

Q: Is it better to hold US stocks in a brokerage account instead of a TFSA?

Q: The purpose of the following question is to avoid problems with CRA and avoid pitfalls, traps &c.
(1) If tax payer withdraws all their Canadian $ from a TFSA before December 31, 2022 , I understand they can re-deposit the full amount after January 1 2023. Correct? (2) I understand they can re-deposit the *full allowable* amount in US$ (i.e. the US$ equivalent of all the Canadian $ that were just withdrawn). Is that correct? (3) If yes, is it the spot exchange rate that is used for calculating the amount available to put back into the TFSA? If yes, what exactly is the spot rate, what rate is acceptable under tax rules and regs ? What source should one use to get the exchange rate to use— that CRA accepts?

Q: I have 100 shares and got a Oct 28 dividend of $249. Withholding tax was $87 with TD. Does a 35% withholding tax seem right?

Thank you

Q: I have received from my financial institution a notice concerning the following coming regulation: "New IRS regulation 1446(f) is being enacted beginning January 1, 2023 that affect all Publicly Traded Partnership (“PTP”) holdings (including various Canadian and foreign issuers such as Brookfield LP)." Are you familiar with this regulation? Do you have any thoughts on how one should respond if one holds Brookfield LP units?

Very much appreciate the work you do and the information you provide.

Howard

Q: Hi Peter,
If a capital gain occurs on a sale of an US stock (also listed under an US exchange) held in my non-registered account, would it be taxed as ordinary income at whatever my marginal tax rate is or taxed as capital gains rate, where ½ of the gain is taxed at 50%?
Thank you,
Roger

Q: hello 5i:
my question regards RRIFs.
Next year, I turn 71 and will need to convert my RRSP to a RRIF. OK, so far.
Question 1: for withdrawals from the RRIF, what is the date that the withdrawal is based on? One source told me it was based on the amount on January 1rst, but if I don't convert until later in the year eg October; is that still true? Or is is January 1rst of 2024, and if so, how can I make withdrawals in 2023 if I don't know the exact amount?
Question #2. If I specify that I wish to receive income twice yearly, June and December: if I don't convert until October, does that mean I only have to take out half the yearly amount? Or, do I have to take out the full amount, regardless of how many times per year I've specified as withdrawals.
thanks
Paul L

Q: Hi 5i: Further to Andre's question today, do you have to wait 30 days to repurchase a stock in a registered account if you sold it for a capital gain?

Q: This is a follow-up question where you suggested, "we would see no need to crystalize a gain on RY JUST to offset a loss. There may be other gains in the future, or one can offset a gain in prior years". I had a significant capital gain in 2021, If I don't sell RY to crystalize a gain in 2022, do you think that offsetting the JE loss in 2021 would be better than offsetting the loss in the future? Taxwise, my income is likely to be lower in 2022-2023 than in 2021, where I claimed significant capital gains.