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Posts from the ‘Tax Planning’ Category

19
Jun

The Clock is Ticking!

Don’t Put Off Your Decision to Buy Life Insurance

2016 is an opportune year to buy life insurance.  New laws affecting the taxation of life insurance come into effect on January 1, 2017. After this date new policies will not perform as well as they do currently.

The good news is that the proceeds of life insurance policies paid at death still remain tax free.  What has been affected is the amount of cash value that may accrue in a policy and the tax-free distribution of death proceeds from a life insurance policy owned in a corporation.

How will this impact your existing and future policies?

Adjustment to the Maximum Tax Actuarial Reserve

Whole Life and Universal Life policies are valuable vehicles in which to accumulate cash value. The limit of how much can be invested is governed by the Maximum Tax Actuarial Reserve (MTAR).  If the cash value ever exceeds the MTAR limit, the policy is deemed to be “offside” and will be subject to accrual taxation. Read more »

11
Apr

9 Ways the 2016 Federal Budget Could Affect Your Business

The Trudeau government’s first budget contained a shock on the small business tax rate, and some smaller let-offs

by Murad Hemmadi for ProfitGuide

When Bill Morneau rose to deliver his first budget speech as Finance Minister in Justin Trudeau’s new federal government, entrepreneurs and the owners of Canada’s small- and medium-sized businesses held their breath.

Concerns over the small business tax deduction, stock options for startup employees and capital gains exemptions made this a crucial policy document for SMBs. Here’s what the 2016 federal budget will do and change, and what that means for you and your business.

1. Small Business Tax Rate Frozen

Companies that meet the criteria for a Canadian-Controlled Private Corporation (CPCC) pay a reduced effective rate on their first $500,000 of active business income. In last year’s budget, the then-Conservative government proposed to drop that rate in increments from 11% at the time to 9% by 2019.

As of January 1, 2016, the small business rate was 10.5%, and the 2016 budget “proposes that further reductions in the small business income tax rate be deferred.” In effect, that means the rate will stay where it is today until the government decides otherwise.

Read more

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21
Mar

Taxation of Life Insurance – New Rules Offer a Window of Opportunity

Permanent life insurance, such as Whole Life or Universal Life, has long been accepted as a tax efficient way of accumulating cash for future needs.  Soon the amount of funds that can be tax sheltered within a life insurance policy will be reduced by new tax rules which take effect January 1, 2017.  These changes may make 2016 the best year to buy cash value life insurance.

The changes to the tax rules regarding life insurance have resulted in an update to the “exempt test” which measures how much cash value can accumulate in a policy before it becomes subject to income tax.

Highlights of the new rules and their effect

For Cash Value Life Insurance: Read more »

16
Nov

Changes to the Taxation of Estates

Estate, trust and tax planners have long favoured testamentary trusts as vehicles to pass along assets to beneficiaries or heirs.   A testamentary trust is generally a trust or estate that is created the day a person dies.  Commonly, these trusts are established in a testator’s will.

A significant benefit to testamentary trusts had been that income earned and retained in the trust received the same graduated rate of income tax as an individual tax payer.  Unfortunately, under the terms of Bill C-43, after January 1, 2016, all income retained in the trust will now be taxed at the highest rate of tax applicable in the province in which the trust is resident.

There will be two exceptions to this new rule – The Graduated Rate Estate (GRE) and a Qualified Disability Trust (QDT). Read more »

18
May

Budget 2015 Highlights

On April 21, 2015, Finance Minister Joe Oliver tabled his first federal budget.  The provisions of the budget will be of particular interest to owners of small and medium sized businesses, seniors and families with children.  As well, those looking to make certain charitable donations will be encouraged by Oliver’s budget.

Below is a brief commentary on each of the key budget proposals.

For Seniors and Savers

Increase in Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) Limit

  • Effective January 1, 2015 the annual contribution limit has been increased from $5,500 to $10,000;
  • As a consequence, the automatic indexing of the annual contribution limit has been eliminated;
  • On April 24, the CRA announced that even though this provision is not law as yet, they will allow increased deposits to a TFSA effective immediately.

Read more »