Investment Q&A

Q: Do all four of these have dividends that are taxed differently and therefore shouldn't be in a non-registered? Does this apply to a TFSA as well, as foreign income I believe is taxed in a TFSA?

Where should I hold each of these? in an RRSP, TFSA or non-registered?

Q: I'm having difficulty interpreting the CRA's defination of eligible expenses for investment consel. Are the fees paid for 5i's portfolio reviews considered an investment expense that can be claimed on tax returns? Thankyou for your reponse.

Q: Good Morning. Further to questions and answers re dividend tax credits and the recent article in the Financial Post, how does income from pensions affect the tax credits? Is pension income considered different from income from a job? I could (and should) experiment in a tax program but wondered if you had a quick answer while the topic is current.

Thanks,
Cathy

Q: Hi 5i,
A question related to my flow-through partnership units: I purchased in 2016. Some weeks after purchase, the partnership units were listed in my self-directed account, showing an associated value with a footnote indicating that these are not securities that trade on a daily basis. Initially the listed value was around 23 percent below my actual cost of purchase, which I took as mainly an indication of all the fees and management expenses taken out up front. Since then, the account listed unit price has been adjusted every so often (maybe every couple of weeks or monthly). Gradually the unit price has climbed to where the holding is now a couple of percent in the black (relative to my actual cost). My understanding is that I can’t sell the holding until the partnership units roll over into mutual fund units next year sometime. So my question is: in the meantime, what is that partnership unit price showing in my brokerage account based on? Is it actually something like a present market value estimate (just as though it were possible to market the units currently)? If so, are such estimates normally pretty reliable (so that the account listed value from immediately before the roll-over translates reasonably accurately into the value of the resulting mutual fund units – barring some perfectly timed market collapse of course)? Or is it more of an exercise in fiction? Thanks for any help with my understanding on this!

Q: Hi,
I remain somewhat confused about which account it's best to hold Dividend paying stocks in. I've noticed some responses where you indicate it's best to hold the dividend payers in non registered accounts and higher growth stocks (capital gainers) in a registered TFSA or RRSP account.
For whatever reason, I assumed the opposite as I thought receiving dividends was more along the lines of receiving income (i.e.- cash) so it would be best to put these into your registered accounts to lower the tax bill.
So, in my situation, as I receive approx 60k in annual pension income- am I better to put the dividend payers into the registered or non registered accounts to keep the tax bill as low as possible.
Thank you.

Q: Hello all -

Regarding Hector's T1135 question a couple of days ago, he mentions that he has American stocks with a value of 120K with Canadian Broker.

First I will say I am not an expert on this subject.
It's my understanding though that he would only need to fill out the form if the total actual "cost" (converted to CAD, each at date of purchase) exceeded 100K. Is this not correct?

Secondly, this 100K (again, total cost in CAD) applies to accounts outside RRSP's and TFSA's. So in other words, if his total cost was under 100K outside his registered accounts, yet amounts inside either or both his registered accounts exceeded 100K, he would still not be required to fill out this form. Those amounts are not affected.

Is my understanding (hopefully) correct on this?

Thanks.

Jim

Q: Regarding Hector's question on T1135 filing on 120K of USD holding.

Just a reminder to be careful when considering "value", the 100K filing requirement is not based on current market value but the cost amount or ACB, it includes cash and only applies to non-registered account, the amount is based on an individual basis, i.e. value in joint account has to be calculated separately.

Q: I have USA stocks with a value of 120K with Canadian Broker.
Do I need to fill out Form T1135 and if yes which box do you think it applies to me.

As per simplified reporting method
I need to check boxes that apply to me
Funds Held outside Canada
Shares of non-resident corporation (other than foreign affiliates)
Indebtedness owed by non-resident
Interest in non-resident trusts.

Thanks for your help.

Q: Hi. I'm doing my taxes. With the split of EFN, I held onto the shares of both EFN and ECN after the split. Do I need to report the disposition of EFN on my income tax? The trading summary from TD indicates a "sale", so I am wondering if CRA will be expecting something. Thanks for all the great work you do!

Q: I am confused. The 30 day rule for buying a stock you sold only applies to a cash or margin account and only applies to losses not gains on that stock. The 30 day rule doesn't apply in an RRSP, RIF or TFSA account. Is this true? Thanks.

Q: I bot a warrant several years ago for $3.00. It will run out in June of this year and is now worth two cents. Can I do nothing and just this run out or do I have to sell it. Money from the sale will not cover the brokers fee.

Q: Would you have any issues with these swap based etfs?
Should I have any concerns?
if the other party were to have issues?

Q: if held in a tfsa will american taxes apply to any gain if so at what rate

Q: I have heard that at higher incomes dividends can be taxed more heavily than capital gains. If true, at what income point does it make more sense to hold dividend paying stocks in a non-registered account instead of in an RRSP?

Q: TFSA
I should only put Canadian investments in it.
If I put in US dividend stocks I will have an issue with the 15%
withholding tax.

Q: I did last year forex trading and have $300. loss do I follow same TAX rule as stock.

If you are not aware of forex rule can you please guide me.

Are you aware of any membership site for TAXES that can give the same service as you do for stocks.

I want to join your ETF membership do I wait until my renewal so both will expire same time or I join now and will expire both at the same time.
Do you have estimated time when you will have portfolio setup for ETF and do you have to be an ETF member to have access to ETF portfolio

Thanks for your help.

Q: I have a significant exposure to HCG which I want to reduce. I have been slowly selling some of my HCG shares the past few years, but I incur significant gains that I must pay taxes. My average cost is less than $3.00 per share. I was thinking of buying more HCG shares to increase my average cost and then sell within the year thereby paying less taxes. Do you think this is a sound strategy?

Q: Brad asked a question about avoiding companies that return capital as part of their dividend because of the tax reporting nuisance.

I shared his concern and determined the best option was to simply hold any REITS or Trusts in my RRSP. I thought this was the easy solution but let me know if I am missing something.

Q: Hi, I try to stay away from companies that pay dividends as return of capital, mostly because of the tax issues.
Do all investors who do there own taxes keep up on the ACB, as it is sometimes only a % of the total distribution? And do they even know if their stock has a ROC?
Also I don't get it,if the company cannot afford the high dividend and relys on ROC, why are they paying it in the fist place. 3 to 5 % seems about right, anything after that is a bit of a gamble.
What am I missing, seems like a complication I can do without,especially if you have 8+ stocks
Thanks

Q: I am having trouble finding the answer to my tax question. I hope you can help. My husband and I were joint owners of a rental building which we sold in 2016. There are considerable capital gains. I have realized capital losses from past years (from sale of shares)that I can apply to my portion of the capital gains. Can I transfer some of these to my husband to apply to his portion of the capital gains on the rental building? He does not have any capital losses. Thank you for your help.