You have gone through a major change—you’ve sold the business that took up a huge part of your life. Just as you made careful decisions while building, growing and then   Read More

Family trusts are becoming increasingly common and are now the norm for many families—even those without yachts! Tax lawyer Samantha Prasad, a contributing editor to The TaxLetter, describes how a   Read More

Investor’s Digest of Canada columnist Mark Halpern, CEO of WEALTHinsurance.com®, answers the seven most-frequently asked questions about retirement problems. He offers cost-efficient and tax-efficient solutions that will safeguard your finances   Read More

Accountant Mark Goodfield, aka The Blunt Bean Counter, warned The TaxLetter readers in April about new reporting rules regarding the sale of a principal residence. Simply put, if you sold   Read More

RRSPs, RRIFs, TFSAs, PPPs, critical illness insurance, long-term care insurance, high-limit disability insurance, life insurance, joint-and-last-to-die insurance, charitable donations at death—no wonder we get so tired as we get older!   Read More

Investor’s Digest of Canada columnist Mark Halpern, CEO of WEALTHinsurance.com®, answers the seven most-frequently asked questions about retirement problems. He offers cost-efficient and tax-efficient solutions that will safeguard your finances   Read More

Accountant Mark Goodfield, aka The Blunt Bean Counter, warned The TaxLetter readers in April about new reporting rules regarding the sale of a principal residence. Simply put, if you sold   Read More

Accountant Mark Goodfield (aka The Blunt Bean Counter) recently warned subscribers to The TaxLetter of some costly common investment mistakes and how to avoid them.
The duplication of investments is one   Read More

Contributing TaxLetter columnist Mark Halpern, CFP, TEP, spends a lot of time with generous and fortunate people who will have accumulated a lot of money by the time they die.   Read More

Even better than borrowing from the bank of mom and dad is borrowing from yourself—or at least borrowing from your RRSP. Just remember that the taxman is probably not as   Read More

The TaxLetter contributing editor Mark Halpern recalls Martin Luther King’s sagacious advice: “If we are to go forward, we must go back.” When it comes to planning your financial future,   Read More

Strip bonds are well suited for RRSPs, RRIFs or TFSAs. They offer many advantages, such as certainty when planning for income. Remember, however, it’s best to hold strips inside a   Read More

A new version of draft legislation related to the tax on split income (TOSI) rules was introduced on Dec. 13, 2017, theoretically in effect as of Jan. 1, 2018. We   Read More

Columnist Mark Halpern shares his insight and analysis on using a Canadian insurance policy to protect your assets from the tax man. It’s a tax-smart investing strategy that honest, hard-working   Read More

“Sometimes governments think that civil society are a pain but I have always said that if only a government can listen to one or two things that civil society says   Read More

The federal taxman is back! However, columnist Mark Halpern tells tax-paying Canadians not to fret. He has some professional tax-smart investing strategies for the seasoned investor as well as basic   Read More

Pondering taxes can be a headache-inducing exercise so we hope not to compound the after effects of anyone’s riotous holiday partying. In any event, TaxLetter columnist Mark Goodfield (aka The   Read More

It’s that time of year when many of us are thinking of both gift giving and tax planning opportunities. Contributing editor to The TaxLetter, Mark Halpern, CFP, TEP, is a   Read More

The TaxLetter contributing editor Samantha Prasad, LL.B, offers a number of ideas to help you minimize the tax impact on your will so you can leave as much of your   Read More

At some point you may have been asked if you’re agreeable to being named an executor of an estate. You may have forgotten all about it until a long-lost cousin   Read More

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