Tax Strategies

You and your taxes: Establishing a year round process.

Does most of your tax planning take place during the last few months of the year? If so, you are not alone. However, to effectively reduce your current and future tax liabilities, tax planning should be a year round endeavor. Read more about this topic.

The Role of Insurance in Tax Planning.

Insurance has typically been used to protect against the risk of future financial loss. However, more and more, innovative insurance solutions are being used to safeguard the value of investors’ assets in a tax-efficient manner. Read more.

Income Splitting Strategies

Saving tax is a topic that almost everyone is interested in. Despite rules in the Income Tax Act to limit ways to save tax, there are still some ways to accomplish tax savings through income splitting with your family members. Read more about this topic.

Spousal RRSPs - Understanding How They Work

RRSP time brings a number of questions including many on spousal RRSPs. This article will examine the use of spousal accounts and whether they are right for you. Read more about this topic.

The Estate Reallocation Strategy

The key to effective estate planning is to minimize estate tax and maximize the amount of wealth that is transferred to the next generation. But how? Life insurance offers a unique strategy. Read more about this topic.

Tax-Effective Donations of Public Securities

When you donate appreciated public securities to a Canadian registered charity you receive two tax
savings: 1) a tax credit that is typically equal to the highest marginal tax rate; 2) no capital gains tax on
the disposition. Combined these savings make appreciated securities the most tax-effective way to give a
simple donation.  Read more about this topic.

Pension Income Credit

Do you know how the Federal Pension Income Tax Credit is calculated? Did you know that ‘pension
income’ is calculated differently depending on your age? Do you know what is excluded from ‘pension
income’? Are you aware of tax planning strategies using the pension income credit? Read more on this topic.

What Happens to My RRSP When I Pass Away?

For most of us, RRSPs are one of our single largest assets. What happens to these on death is worth paying careful attention to. This article outlines some of the important considerations. Read more about this topic.

Understanding Flow-Through Shares and Limited Partnerships

Flow-through shares and flow-through limited partnerships (LP’s) offer investors both a tax benefit and the potential for capital appreciation in the resource sector, typically in oil & gas and mineral exploration. Read more about this topic.

50/50 Donation of Securities Strategy: Elimination of capital gains on gifts of securities

If you own publicly traded securities (including stocks, employee stock options, bonds, mutual fund units, debt obligations etc.) or exchangeable shares (including partnership interests) that have increased in value and wish to facilitate a variety of financial and personal goals, while achieving a charitable objective, you may wish to consider the following “50/50” donation plan. Read more on this topic.

Charitable Giving: Some common strategies

In introducing incentives for charitable giving, the Federal government has given taxpayers a choice. It is a choice about how individuals wish to support society and the amount of tax they wish to pay. Read more about this topic.

Other Downloadable documents (PDF Format)

• 2007 Quick Reference Tax Guide