There’s a lot going on these days for those with private corporations and those without. You owe it to yourself to preserve your hard-earned money for the people and causes   Read More

“It’s a cruel, (cruel), cruel summer/Leaving me here on my own/It’s a cruel, (it’s a cruel), cruel summer/Now you’re gone”. British pop artists Bananarama weren’t singing about Canadians’ 2017 proposed   Read More

Selling the family cottage (or, depending on where you live in Canada, the cabin, the bungalow, the lake, the chalet, the camp, the shack, the farm or the summer house)   Read More

According to Weddingbells.ca, 67 per cent of Canadian weddings occur between June and September. They offer no statistics for common-law or non-traditional unions but financial, trust and estate planner Mark   Read More

Now that people are living longer, it’s no surprise that one of the biggest concerns among aging Canadians is the genuine fear of outliving retirement savings. And most people would   Read More

There are many reasons to liquidate your investments. But before seeking the safety of cash and low-risk income investments, you must consider the potential tax implications. Toronto-based Minden Gross tax   Read More

Columnist Mark Halpern recently gave readers of The TaxLetter seven defensive strategies to consider in the ongoing process of estate planning. But he also urged readers whose wills and estate   Read More

The 2017 federal budget focused on helping Canadians develop the necessary skills to adapt to rapid technological change and included the planned expenditures of $5.2 billion to pay for it.   Read More

“Freedom 55 now occurs when your youngest child turns 55.” Certified financial planner and trust and estate practitioner Mark Halpern recalls London Life’s aspirational slogan of the 1980s with a   Read More

So you’re a hands-on investor and you want to decide for yourself which investments go into your self-directed Registered Retirement Savings Plan. TaxLetter contributing editor Samantha Prasad, a tax partner   Read More

Benjamin Franklin was one of the wealthiest men of his time. He could have retired in luxury  at a relatively young age but instead pursued a lifetime of philanthropic endeavours.   Read More

Canadian tax filing deadline may be closer than it appears if you want to take advantage of all the benefits, credits and services that the CRA has to offer. TaxLetter   Read More

We thank American actress Bette Davis for this keen insight. It’s tough to anticipate the joy of a new day when all your bits and pieces ache and won’t move   Read More

Investor’s Digest columnist Kim Inglis explores ways of minimizing or eliminating capital gains tax when donating securities to charities. She suggests direct giving and alternatives such as RRSPs, insurance, Donor   Read More

2016 was a great year for most Canadian stock funds. So you may receive some shocking tax information slips near the end of February. And now, it’s too late to   Read More

It’s the start of 2017 and a brand new year. However, for RRSP purposes, it’s still 2016 until the end of the day on March 1, as that is the   Read More

Sometimes reading your financial plan is like staring into a bowl of alphabet soup. Abbreviations and acronyms float by and transmogrify before you can begin to read any sense into   Read More

DRIPs (Dividend Re-Investment Plans) and cash option plans are cost-effective and convenient ways of building your holdings in the companies that offer them. The benefits of DRIPs are substantial. But   Read More

In The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Polonius warns his son Laertes to “neither a borrower nor a lender be”. Part of Shakespeare’s enduring appeal, of course, is that   Read More

It’s true that we don’t have estate taxes in Canada. However, your tax return for the year you die will include more than the income you earned that year. All   Read More

We’re approaching that time of year when many mutual funds distribute the capital gains they’ve realized throughout the year to their unit-holders. This event should serve as a reminder to   Read More

Whether you’re old enough to remember the original “Home, Sweet Home” or your generational instincts are more attuned to Mötley Crüe’s 1985 power ballad of the same name (or Carrie   Read More

Election day in the United States of America is almost here. As compelling to observe as it may be for those of us on the northern side of the border,   Read More

Benjamin Franklin wasn’t first, but perhaps most famously lamented that: “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Mark Halpern, a Certified Financial Planner,   Read More

Every gambler knows / That the secret to survivin’ / Is knowin’ what to throw away / And knowin’ what to keep / ‘Cause every hand’s a winner / And   Read More

Samantha Prasad is a tax partner at the Toronto-based law firm Minden Gross LLP and a regular contributor to The TaxLetter. Her practice focuses mainly on corporate, estate and international   Read More

Mark Halpern is a Certified Financial Planner, Trust and Estate Practitioner and regular contributor to The TaxLetter. He is an expert in succession planning for family business owners and tax   Read More

Mark Halpern is a Certified Financial Planner, Trust and Estate Practitioner and a regular contributor to The TaxLetter. He has extensive experience in succession planning for family business owners using   Read More

Developing an effective tax planning strategy for selling or transferring your business is not so simple. Potential successors or acquirers may be family members, non-family management or outside third party   Read More

Watch the mutual funds outside your registered accounts. Otherwise, you may find yourself on the hook for taxes if you buy just prior to an end-of-year capital gains distribution. And   Read More

The Liberal government’s 2016 federal budget was built around the theme of “growing the middle class”. Samantha Prasad, a tax partner with the Toronto-based law firm Minden Gross LLP, takes   Read More

You must turn your RRSP into a RRIF or an annuity by the end of the year you turn 71. Otherwise you’ll receive all your RRSP money and have it   Read More

Mark Halpern, a Markham, Ont.-based certified financial planner and trust and estate practitioner, is a regular contributor to The TaxLetter. He says investment and tax planning strategies like the immediate   Read More

If you are in the market for a cottage, cabin, camp, chalet, shack or whatever you may call a second or vacation home in your part of this Great White   Read More

Markham, Ont.-based Mark Halpern is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP) with special expertise in tax planning for high net worth individuals and their families.   Read More

The crafters of the legislation creating the Tax-Free Savings Account obviously weren’t moved by Juliet’s lament to Romeo: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any   Read More

Samantha Prasad, a tax partner with Toronto-based law firm Minden Gross LLP and a regular contributing editor to The TaxLetter, has some suggestions for where to look for funds to   Read More

Mark Goodfield, CPA, CA, LPA, editor of the popular blog The Blunt Bean Counter, author of Let’s Get Blunt About Your Financial Affairs and a contributing editor to The TaxLetter,   Read More

‘Melt and cascade’ describes what happens to a solid ice jam on a hot summer’s day: a fixed form becomes a fluid, more dynamic element. Mark Halpern, a Markham, Ont.-based   Read More

Giving to others can benefit you, too. Toronto-based Kim Inglis is an investment advisor and portfolio manager with the Reynolds Inglis Group within Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management. Here she shows   Read More

Mark Goodfield, CPA, CA, LPA, is the creative force behind the popular blog The Blunt Bean Counter and author of Let’s Get Blunt About Your Financial Affairs. In his inaugural   Read More

The Liberals have promised change. Samantha Prasad, a tax partner with the Toronto-based law firm Minden Gross LLP and a regular contributor to The TaxLetter, highlights some of the details   Read More

With roughly half of Canadian marriages ending in divorce, many people view “Till death do us part” as a quaint concept. Divorce is now so commonplace that Statistics Canada no   Read More

Moving for work or school? Samantha Prasad, a tax partner with the Toronto-based law firm Minden Gross LLP and a contributing editor of The TaxLetter, outlines tax planning strategies for   Read More

You likely qualify for deductions when you file your income tax return. If so, some tax planning this month by properly filling in form T1213 Request to Reduce Tax Deductions   Read More

Those of you who happen to own shares in a private corporation, especially a family owned business, should be aware of some tax traps to avoid. Samantha Prasad, a tax   Read More

The new cumulative contribution limit on a Tax-Free Savings Account is $41,000. Everybody should have a TFSA. TFSAs are the best thing offered to investors by the federal government since   Read More

We used to communicate with the Canada Revenue Agency via paper or online forms. Now you can get social with the CRA via Twitter, e-mail, RSS feeds, YouTube and mobile   Read More

Markham, Ontario-based Mark Halpern is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP) and CEO of WEALTHinsurance.com and illnessPROTECTION.com. He says new rules are coming in 2017 but   Read More

Being too generous to your family can hurt. Samantha Prasad, a tax partner with the Toronto-based law firm Minden Gross LLP, outlines the benefits and potential traps in any tax   Read More

Sending someone away from home to university for four years can cost more than $100,000. That’s taking into account tuition, books, transportation, room and board, and incidentals. Government cutbacks, inflation,   Read More

It’s a common question at tax-filing time: What employment expenses are tax-deductible by a salaried employee? Peter Still, a Markham, Ont.-based Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and Certified General Accountant (CGA)   Read More