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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: •Foreign property held within registered plans like RRSPs, LIFs, RRIFs, LIRAs, TFSAs, RESPs and RDSPs. As to my understanding if I have over $100000 in u.s. stocks held in one of the accounts above I do not have to report it on cra form 1135..hopefully that gives this question more clarity ...thanks
Read Answer Asked by gene on July 08, 2016
Q: I have been doing research but am not getting the answer i require. How much u.s. stock exposure can we have in rsp and lira accounts and not be subject to u.s. capital gains tax. I have heard about $100000 u.s. dollars as a threshold but cannot find that for sure. Could you enlighten me on this matter.
Read Answer Asked by gene on July 08, 2016
Q: If purchased in US$, on the Amex, is this company still considered to be "Canadian" for tax purposes.
Read Answer Asked by Edgar on June 20, 2016
Q: Hi 5i,
This is in response to Earl’s question about managing an account for someone whose OAS supplement is reduced substantially in proportion to any taxable income from investments. A good way to generate some cash flow giving the effect of income but without taking the full impact of the supplement reduction might be to focus a portion of the portfolio on REITs whose growth and development activities allow them to designate all or most of their distributions as ‘return of capital’ or ROC. The cash payments come monthly, typically, but the ROC designation turns some or all of that cash from income into a reduction of the cost base for the investment, effectively swapping current year income tax on the payments for capital gains tax that is deferred until the eventual sale of the holding. Because any portion of a cash distribution designated as ROC is effectively not income, there should be no reduction of the OAS supplement resulting from receiving that ROC.
There is imperfect visibility with this approach because one cannot be certain in advance exactly how much of the year’s distributions will be designated ROC. That information comes with the tax slips and related info after year-end. But with that caveat, I have held REITs over many years that have designated most, sometimes all, of their distributions as ROC, year after year. A good example that I have held would be Artis REIT (AX.UN) but I expect that other 5i members have several other favorite examples. If you are willing to dig a bit, a REITs’ past record regarding ROC designations is usually available on its website or potentially through its Investor Relations people.
Read Answer Asked by Lance on June 08, 2016
Q: If a Canadian based ETF (e.g. VUS) invests in a US company or ETF (e.g.VTI), isn't the dividend paid to the Cdn ETF subject to US withholding tax, regardless of whether it is held in a registered or taxable account ?

Thank you for your outstanding service to us !

Bob
Read Answer Asked by Bob on May 19, 2016
Q: If I own a stock outside of my TFSA and then buy the same amount of this stock inside my TFSA for twice the price is my adjusted cost base equalized between the two holdings?
IE 1 share = $1 outside TFSA
1 share = $2 inside TFSA

Is my cost base now $1.50 on 2 shares?

TIA
Read Answer Asked by Gerald on May 19, 2016
Q: if I sell a stock at a loss can I repurchase the stock 30 days later and still take advantage of my tax loss? brenda
Read Answer Asked by brenda on May 15, 2016
Q: We are recently retired with no pension but would like to get the $2,000 each pension credit in this and future years. What are your thoughts (pros and cons) please on purchasing a say $100k annuity, which is roughly 10% of our registered savings. Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Bill on May 14, 2016
Q: If you could give me your thoughts on these 2 etf's RSX.US and FXI.US, as they seem to be cheap, and they pay a decent dividend. Russia seems to be a play on energy and going through a recession, and China a play on manufacturing, also slowing down, can these two countries be added to a portfolio for growth long term(5-10years)? Your thoughts! Also will I have to pay 15% withholding to the Americans for these 2 country specific ETF's, and is their a way to avoid paying the Americans dividend withholding for other country specific ETF's?
Read Answer Asked by Nino on May 13, 2016
Q: Recently Peter's response to a member question mentioned CAR.UN as a decent choice for a REIT for good income and growth prospects. That's got me started thinking about adding REITS to my non-registered account.

However, I am not educated about the tax implications of owning Canadian REITS in a non-registered account. Is income from CAR.UN an eligible dividend to qualify for the dividend tax credit? Or is it treated as straight income that is fully taxable, or are there some other form of tax treatment that is done with income from Canadian REITs?

If eligible for the dividend tax credit, are there other Canadian REITs that look attractive from a growth, income and favourable tax treatment perspective?

SGR
Read Answer Asked by SG on May 12, 2016
Q: This could save a lot of pain for fellow 5i members: If you hold U.S cash outside your RRSP and your TFSA... (A) the gain is calculated by subtracting the CAD value of the ACB from the CAD value of the proceeds (B) the buy and sell generate a deemed disposition of U.S cash that must be reported. It had a big effect on my taxes. None of my friends understand this, so it's likely many here have missed this. Because the exchange rate is now far from 1.0, CRA is now looking at that. You can see an example here: http://www.adjustedcostbase.ca/blog/calculating-adjusted-cost-base-for-foreign-currency-cash/. You can go to the tax section of the forum to ask questions.
Read Answer Asked by Matt on May 02, 2016