Investment Q&A

Q: Thanks for all your good advice.
I have set up In Trust Accounts for my grandchildren invested equally in HXS and HXT - to avoid tax implications to me. However, due to the swap change introduced Nov 2019 and effective in 2020 - I have been issued T5008 slips seemingly indicating capital gains as a result of the swaps. Is this just for record purposes or is there a need to account for this at tax time?
Thanks

Q: I want to hold IWO and SPY etf's, I am a canadian resident.
Are there any tax, exchange rate implications for me in holding these ( or any other US stocks )?

If yes, then suggest a equivalent Canadian ETF.

Q: in TFSA account, what is the tax implication if buying Canadian listed EFT investing in US listed stocks? is there any witholding tax ?

Q: Hi Team,
Previously (I believe it was sometime in 2020) in your answer to questions on US estate tax payable by Canadians, it was pointed out that the threshold for US estate tax is US$11.2M (to be reduced to US$4 or 5M in 2023?), meaning no US estate tax is payable if value of world-wide assets is under US$11.2M. Amounts in excess of this threshold is subject to US estate tax with some credits allowed as per the Canada-US tax treaty.
Please confirm if your previous statement regarding US estate tax is still applicable.
Cheers,

Q: On Wednesday Gary asked a question about estate taxes on U.S. property/stocks. I'm wondering whether stocks of Canadian dual-listed companies that are held on the U.S. side of an account, or foreign ADRs held in the U.S. account are also considered U.S. property for estate purposes and/or for CRA form 1135.

Q: Hi held this stock for many years and it is not subject to us withholding tax as it is a Canadian domiciled company
Stan

Q: Just to confirm my impression about tax treatment of dividend flowing from Canadian based EFTs with US and International focus.
Outside TFSA and RRSP these are treated as income rather then tax favourable dividends?
Canadian focused EFTs dividends are treated as dividends from Canadian stocks?
Thank you,
Miroslaw

Q: Hi gang,

I realize that Topicus shares issued to CSU holders are treated as a dividend, but I'm having a hard time finding a book value of these shares, ie dividend value.

Do you know what we should use for this book value?

Thx

Q: My question has to do with personal estate taxes or the tax grab by the us tax authorities on a individuals estate holding personal US property (US stocks). Can one avoid this problem by just simply holding Canadian ETF's (trading only in Canada) that hold US equities. For example BMO ZQQ, or Vanguard VSP. Any guidance or help from 5i or it's members would be much appreciated.

Q: Hi Peter...More of a comment than a question...RBC Direct shows the book cost of our new TOI shares as $0.01 even though they also acknowledge that the stock opened at $66 per share. A book cost of $0.01 suggests a sizeable capital gain. I have spoken to RBC Direct but so far the book cost has not changed. I was thinking of transferring my TOI Margin account shares to my TFSA account where I also hold TOI shares as a contribution in-kind. However I don't want to trigger a big capital gain and then fight with RBC to get it corrected later. It's early days so I will monitor the share status and hopefully RBC will get it corrected. I suppose CRA will have the final say on wether the TOI shares are a dividend or not.
Jim

Q: Now that TOI has started trading and I own it in my non-registered account, would it be best to sell and repurchase 30 days later? Would I now be taxed on any and all cash with this stock when I sell?

Q: Are my Topicus sharea considered to be a dividend for tax purposes, or do they have a cost base of zero for tax purposes ?

Q: For ACB calculations:
Must include all non registered accounts ?
Must also include registered and TFSA accounts ??
Must also include my wife’s accounts ???
I am not sure about the last 2 scenarios.

Many thanks.

Q: Janet Yellen - Federal Reserve - talking about taxing unrealized capital gains - year after year even if you have not sold. Your opinion on this. Now that everyone including young people I know are getting information through Reddit and buying all these risky plays, i.e. Koss, and Gamestop are making a lot of money for new people in the market. Will there be enough to go around for people who just want to buy safe stocks and hold on to them for a period of time? Most of my stocks in this area have gone a fair amount over the past while, whereas these highly promoted risky and shorted stocks - seemed to be skyrocketing and more money will gravitate to them. Your opinion on that?

Q: Hello -
I have a concern about the grossing up of Canadian dividends (non registered account) affecting my OAS when I reach 71. By that time I will be forced to RRIF, I'll have my CPP, and I also have a company pension that I will be drawing from prior to that.

I know you are not tax experts, but wondered if you see anything wrong with my thinking here. I am leaning more towards lower paying dividend paying blue chips in that non-registered account. I already have ATD.B and CNR. Are there any other quality Canadian companies that you are comfortable with in this "lower dividend" category?

Alternatively I was thinking I could "swap" some investments. i.e. have more Canadian dividend payers in my RRSP and have my emerging market ETF's - ZID and VEE - in my non-registered account. Do you think this is worth considering?
At least those dividends would not be grossed up. Although the trade-off is that you lose the dividend credit.......sigh.

Q: Up until now I've only invested in canadian dividend stocks and ETFS in my non registered to take advantage of the favourable taxes on dividends. My RRSP and TFSA are balanced across all asset classes. But now that my non-registered account is growing, I'm thinking about adding the other asset classes in. Are there any kind of bond etfs that are more tax favourable for a non-registered? And what about US and Intl etfs... any that are more tax favourable?

Q: I bought several inter-listed Canadian companies in the USD side of a tax-deferred account (RSP). I am thinking of selling some of these holdings and buy them back in a taxable account in order to have the benefit of the dividend tax credit. Is the dividend tax credit worth doing this? If yes, after selling on the US$ side of the RSP account , would you buy the same securities on the US$ side of the taxable account, or do you prefer to buy them back on the C$ side of the account?

Please excuse my smuggling in a question asking for your opinion on what the two currencies are likely to do in the next year or so.

Q: Hi,
If a ticker symbol ends in dot un (.un) such as BEP.UN, it will NOT be eligible for the Canadian dividend tax credit, regardless of where it is domiciled, correct? Because it only applies to corporations and not partnerships or trusts?

Thanks

Q: I have $60,000 in an RDSP that I am transferring to a self directed account. At least $6000 of new money per year will be available for new investments. I have a 20 year investment horizon with a balanced to growth focus. Luckily I subscribed to 5i in September and have been closely following the Questions and Answers, your posts and updates, and company reports.

I will use the sector allocations you provided to Tom on Jan 6th for 2021. I need your guidance on how much of the portfolio to invest in the Canadian and US markets, and other geographic regions / countries. For the Canadian market I plan to invest in individual stocks. For the rest of the portfolio I will use ETFs.

Q: Re the question of withdrawals from RIF's rather than RSP's it is my understanding that RSP withdrawals are not considered pension income by CRA and thus do not qualify to be income split. Also I believe the $2000.00 dollar tax credit does not apply.
Am I correct in this belief?
Thanks