Investment Q&A

Q: I would like to build a more concentrated techy portfolio of our holdings with a 3 year time horizon by concentrating funds on stronger names and selling those you have less confidence in 3 years. Please rank names for
A. new funds to add with a short blurb about
1. growth potential and profit margins
2. risk/ debt, particularly at a time of rising rates
3. competitive advantage
4. management
B. selling with comment about reasons.
Appreciate service you provide - thanks

Q: I just sold some stocks at a loss and the transaction will be officially completed on November 24. What is the first day I can re-buy some of the shares and avoid a superficial loss? What is the last day a stock can be sold this December and still be transacted in 2021? In future, I think I should complete tax-loss harvesting by Nov 1st - would you agree? Thanks for the excellent service at 5i!!

Q: Hi

We want to give each of our children $50,000 each as a Christmas gift, as we believe that we would rather see them enjoy it as we are still alive..

The plan is to take it out of our TFSA and not our cash accounts as we would have to pay capital gains.

We should be able to reinvest the amount taken out of our TFSA in the next year,.

Does this make sense?

Your comments are most welcome

Thank you

Mike

Q: RPI and LWRK are both long-term holds for me, and have done well - particularly RPI (+500%) in spite of the recent slide. However, these were bought in part for their dividends, which have decreased on a percentage basis with the stock price gains. Both have also been rather weak lately, and I can easily get significantly higher dividends with other stocks. I am looking at selling one this year, and the other next year.

Could you comment on which has the least likelihood of a rebound, and should go first.

A further issue is that both are in a taxable account, and the sale of either will result in the complete clawback of OAS due to the capital gains. I have no offsetting loses at the moment. Any suggestions on how to handle this?

Thank-you

Q: In a question today you mentioned that this week is peak tax loss selling time (for Canada).

Does the US have the same "tax loss selling" phenomena at the same time of year? If not the same time, when does their "tax loss selling" season peak?

Thanks, Paul

Q: I have a capital gain this year from PHO. I have never realized a capital loss in my lifetime. If I sell a losing position next year before my taxes are due (before April 30th) am I allowed to use that 2022 loss and apply it against my 2021 gain? Or do I need to sell a losing position in 2021 to apply it to the gain in 2021?

To pay no capital gains tax on PHO, do I need to sell a stock that has a loss amount EQUAL to the gain amount of PHO?

Thank you

Q: For discussion purposes, If one has taxable income of >$220K in Ontario, the tax rate on income would be 53.53% and 26.77% on capital gains (for now!).

My first question is if one trades too frequently in a TFSA and the CRA decrees that this is business income, then is it correct to assume that the gains are taxed at 53.33% i.e., go from 0% tax to 53.53% tax?

My second question. If one trades too frequently in an unregistered cash account, is that also treated as a business and taxed at 53.33% i.e., go from 26.77% tax to 53.54% tax?

Any thoughts on roughly how much “too frequent” is?
Thanks so much.

Q: Hello team,

I have to crystalize some losses to offset gains. I have a substantial position in ABCL (-56%) and BHC (-78%) and can sell either completely and be done with offsetting the gains. Do you suggest I do that or should I get rid of SDGR (-23%), BMBL (-38%) and PENN (-23%) as well ,if ABCL is worth holding onto, at least partially?

I know other than BHC, they all do have a good bounce potential after the tax-loss season is over. However, I also know that something like BMBL or even ABCL may be broken stories and may take a very long time to recover.

I appreciate it if you can share in which order you would sell and why (if you could kindly include the main reason for each).

Best!

Q: For example, I have 200 TD shares at a cost of $50 EA in my cash account with Questrade. I have built this up over the last few years. I have NOT done anything at Tax Time, re: Div Tax Credit, Gross Up, etc. Should I be doing something? Each year I simply filed my Tax return based on what Questrade sent to me & the CRA.

Thank you!

Q: I appreciate your in-depth reviews of many Canadian Dividend companies. Is it possible to include in your reports what form those dividends are distributed in? For instance the dividend from AW is considered non-eligible and the dividend for BCE is considered eligible. What are the advantages of each type. It would be helpful for me when deciding which account to purchase the equity in. Do you have a recommended site or source for more information.Thanks for you service.
Jim

Q: I think Brookfield Asset Management is a great company to invest in for the long term. I'm debating whether to acquire more BAM in CDN or USD but wanting to better understand the USD option. Can you help me understand the pros and cons of holding BAM:US in a USD TFSA vs. a USD RSP vs. a USD non-registered account? Thanks very much, your answers are always really helpful.

Q: You are probably going to be bombarded with questions re ECN in the next few days. Here is mine. According to the information circular , of the $7.50 payout, $4.15 is a return of capital and $3.35 a special dividend. In my non-registered account, if I paid $3.00 per share does that translate that my cost per share is zero?
Thanks

Q: I am looking to offset some capital gains received this year from PEO and PHO (thanks!). Currently I have the following holdings in a loss position, in order of dollars down: TDOC, TV, XBC, HAL, XEG, NFI, SQ, TECK.B, XTC, WELL, ENGH, PLTR. I would need to sell the first six to fully offset the gain, or could sell more if using those in a smaller loss position. How would you rank these holdings in order of selling, and which of these would you look to buy back after 30 days (if any)? Note that these are held within a broad portfolio that I am also looking to consolidate.

Q: I have done some calculations for me re selling or holding ECN that others may be interested in doing. My ACB for ECN is $3.75/sh and a sale at $11 would result in a $7.25 capital gain/$3.63 taxable and about $1.81/share taxes to be paid.
If I hold, the $7.50 dividend would result in my ACB going to zero (3.75-4.15) and a $0.40 capital gain and a 0.10/share tax liability plus the $3.35 special dividend would likely require about 32% tax payable (AB) or $1.07. So total tax payable by keeping the shares for me is about $1.17/share. Since I want to own the ECN shares after this, it is cheaper for me to hold the shares than to sell and rebuy. Interesting to me that my ACB will be zero after this. I hope this helps others do the math.

Q: Hi Peter & 5i,

Just a comment. I always find your answers to ROC (Return of Capital) perplexing to me. 5i seems to view ROC as almost a completely negative situation and that you are almost always receiving your own money back. That is just not the case. Today's response to a question from Albert regarding the ROC with regards to CAR.UN and REIT'S highlighted this situation even more. I like a stock (CAR.UN) that has went from $30 in 2016 and is $60 in 2021 and that 63.8% of the distribution during those 5 years has been ROC. Multiple great things to like in a non-registered account from a total return basis and a tax scenario.

The technical details for ROC and REIT's can be highlighted in this response from John Heinzl of the Globe and Mail. It is one of the best answers that I've seen.

Please post as Public if you think it can help with the ROC understanding.

This is the question posed to John Heinzl - I have a question about calculating the yields of real estate investment trusts. Many REITs distribute significant amounts of return of capital. It has never made sense to me to include getting my own money back when calculating my yield. Do posted yields need to be adjusted by deducting the ROC to get a more realistic idea of what one is receiving?

Answer - Return of capital doesn’t necessarily mean you are “getting your own money back.” In general, ROC is defined as the portion of a distribution that does not consist of dividends, interest, realized capital gains or other income. In some cases – for example, a high-yielding mutual fund that distributes so much ROC that its net asset value erodes over time – you are indeed getting paid with a portion of your original capital.

But with REITs, it’s not that simple. ROC typically arises when a REIT’s distributions exceed its taxable income. This isn’t necessarily a problem, however, because income is affected by accounting items, such as depreciation, that don’t reduce cash available for distributions. In other words, when you receive ROC, you are getting cash generated by the business, not some sleight-of-hand trick by the REIT.

For investors, ROC has one big advantage: It is not taxed immediately. Rather, ROC is subtracted from the investor’s adjusted cost base, which gives rise to a larger capital gain – or smaller capital loss – when the units are eventually sold. For REITs that distribute large amounts of ROC, it can significantly reduce the tax burden in non-registered accounts.

Interested in a particular REIT? Most REIT websites provide a detailed annual breakdown of the tax characteristics of their distributions. In addition to distributing ROC, REITs typically pay out capital gains (50 per cent of which is taxable), other income (which is fully taxable) and in some cases, dividends (which benefit from the dividend tax credit).

One final note: When assessing their operating performance, many REITs focus on real estate cash-flow measures, such as funds from operations (FFO) and the more stringent adjusted funds from operations (AFFO). These measures are also useful for determining a REIT’s payout ratio and assessing the sustainability of its distributions.

Q: Why was CARs distribution in 2020 56% ROC? Is this related to their tax status?

Q: It's almost mid November, is it possible to name some stocks that will probably have some tax loss selling and because of this may become attractive at the lower price?

thanks,

Paul

Q: I would like to purchase about 5 ETF’s
Is there any advantage/ disadvantage to waiting till Jan 2022 as opposed to buying in 2021?
I know some mutual funds do a year end distribution which add income whic needs to be accounted for in current year’s taxes - I would like to avoid this
Do ETF’s have year end distributions ?
Thanks as always for your assistance

Q: Would you endorse selling AT and buy it back in 30 days?

Thanks for your service?

Q: "We are not tax experts, but it is generally wise for dual citizens to avoid TFSAs" This was your response to an Oct 25 question. I have been contributing to a TFSA since they started in 2009 with limits soon to exceed $80,000. There is some paperwork required as the Americans consider TFSAs a 'foreign trust' rather than a self funded, self directed investment vehicle. The paperwork time is worth the investment advantage. Some general guidance from US tax accountants would be beneficial to your subscribers with dual citizenship and those filing US tax forms. I use RLB with offices in KW/Guelph (Jeff Hood is the US tax person)