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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: I'm a new subscriber to your services this year and much appreciate your independent thought on investments. What is a good fully diversified ETF that is capital gains oriented over dividends? I've focused on dividend paying stocks over past 30 years, and while I'm enjoying working - want to avoid paying more than 1/2 my dividends income to gov. When I stop working I would convert back to dividend based investments to provide my income. Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Glenn on May 11, 2022
Q: More of a comment, post if you feel relevant to others. I received a Tax Residency Form from my Financial Institution; asking me to declare whether I am a resident of the United States or other Countries for tax purposes. Not happy, I contacted my FI and was told this originated via IRS to CRA. I questioned why received when I have never been anything other than Canadian, they said possibly due to US stocks even though these are only held in registered accounts
Read Answer Asked by Harry on May 09, 2022
Q: Hi,

I have a line of credit that I borrowed for investing.But prior to that I used it once for personal use.After the funds borrowed were paid, a month later I used it all for investing in a non registered acct.

My question is, can I claim a tax deduction on the interest expense on that money borrowed.I read articles that you can only deduct only if the account was only used for investment purposes.

I know you are not tax experts but your valued opinion is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by sunday on April 29, 2022
Q: I noticed the question about "phantom" distributions. I was very surprised to see that the capital gains distributions at the end of the year which are rolled back into NAV show up as taxable but without the Return of Capital adjustment that is needed. So a RoC distribution that requires the ACB to be decreased is shown on T3s but when a phantom RoC distribution that requires the ACB to be increased to the benefit of unit holders is not shown on the T3. How many people are going to pay twice the amount of tax as they should on these distributions?
Read Answer Asked by Earl on April 25, 2022
Q: When I reviewed my T3s I found one that CRA had but which I had not received through my discount broker. According to the CRA copy of the T3 I received a capital gain on a fund (Ninepoint Energy). I had not sold any. When I searched 'Activities' for this fund on my broker's website I found the matching amount but it was listed as dividends. Does that just mean that it was a distribution of capital gains ($x/unit held) in the form of a dividend, but not an eligible div?

If this hadn't appeared on the CRA site I would not have known to claim it - I didn't received this form with the any others which the broker did send to me. (Common?)

Thanks,
Read Answer Asked by Peter on April 25, 2022
Q: Hi, I presently hold the above funds in a corporate account.
Is the tax treatment of these funds in a corporate account the same as a non registered acct?
In what type of acct is it best to hold them?
Read Answer Asked by Lorraine on April 20, 2022
Q: We have a 10oz gold bullion that was given to us as a wedding present four decades ago. How can we sell it to get the best price? We can try jewelry shops. Go to the banks. Advertise through news/social media. Any other places you can suggest? If we do sell, will there be capital gains or income to report? Thanks a bullion!
Read Answer Asked by Charles on April 18, 2022
Q:
In John’s question April 13 he says “Exceeding the $us limit of $100K us “
Is the limit for reporting US held stocks on form 1135 100K US dollars or 100K Canadian dollars ?
Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Indra on April 14, 2022
Q: Today I noticed that once again you recommend transferring Canadian Cos. that pay dividends in $US to the US side of our Trading accounts. I get the rationale but am wondering if it is worth the trouble of exceeding the $US investment limit of US$100k at which it is necessary to report US investments specifically to CRA ? Also it would be interesting to know why the CRA has set this arbitrary limit in the first place ? If you know why ?

John.
Read Answer Asked by JOHN on April 13, 2022
Q: " It was a taxable spin off, but the deemed value was essentially zero. T3s are not always given in these scenarios. The cost base of TOI shares was determined to be less than 1 cent per share."

So, the deemed value of taxable spin off being essentially Zero, it's not required to be reported for Taxable Income in any form, for 2021 tax year - Is this the correct understanding ?

What should the ACB of the spin off shares used, when sold - Zero - For Capital Gain purposes ?

Thank You
Read Answer Asked by rajeev on April 11, 2022
Q: Hi 5i,

After being unable to receive a rational or timely response from my Investment Advisor(Big Bank) nor a return call from the company(CSU/TOI), I beleve other members have in the past asked this same question regarding the spin off value of TOI from CSU for tax purposes --- is the value of 'TOI' shares received deemed to be a 'taxable dividend' for tax purposes for tax year '2021? If so, should I have not received a 'T5' by now?

Thank you and confused,

Dean
Read Answer Asked by Dean on April 08, 2022
Q: Can you please advise if the cost of my annual subscription to 5i qualifies as an investment expense for Canadian income tax purposes. Thank you.

Andrew
Read Answer Asked by Andrew on April 06, 2022
Q: According to KPMG, the Finance Minister has telegraphed that she will not be increasing the capital gains inclusion rate in the April 7 budget. That being said, never say never. I currently hold ITP with some accrued gains. Does it make sense to sell my holdings and crystalize my gains and then buyback my shares to take advantage of the still existing arbitrage opportunity? Is this what you would do if you were in this situation? For tax purposes, if they change the inclusion rate, would it be based on the trade date or the settlement date? I understand there is no 30 day waiting period to buy the shares back, but can I buy them back the same day that I sell them, or do I need to wait until the next trading day?

Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by WAYNE on April 06, 2022