Should you borrow money via a loan offered by Canadian banks to make contributions to your Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP). According to a recent MoneySense article, that depends. Currently RRSP loans are at a bank prime rate of 3.95%, which Heath says is advantageous. Further, most Canadian banks will lend up to $50,000 with [...]
Every taxpayer fears the day when they get a letter saying they are being audited. While some audits are random, the CRA has discovered that targeted audits are better at identifying non-compliance. Therefore, they tend to focus their audits on high-risk areas. Knowing this, taxpayers can reduce the risk of an audit by avoiding red [...]
If you have a dual Canadian/U.S. citizen citizenship, be prepared to be fully taxed like a U.S. citizen by the American government, regardless of whether you've lived there or not. Therefore, to stay on the IRS's good side, you need to be careful about where you're holding what type of investments. For instance, TFSA accounts [...]
Disagreeing with how the Canada Revenue Agency has assessed your return is a right of every Canadian. Everyone is allowed their day in court. Depending on the complexity of your case and whether you take the general or informal procedure will affect how expensive going to court can be. The general route will require a [...]
If you have investments, expect to pay taxes. Fortunately, there are four ways - almost anyone can use - to can save at tax time. First, as many people know having an RRSP allows you to defer taxes on your contribution, so you can withdraw the money at a future time in retirement at a [...]
One-third of Canadians don’t have life insurance. The main reason is that death is hard to talk about; so many people avoid it and thus don't buy life insurance or adequately plan for what will happen when they're gone. For instance, one myth is that an employer's life insurance program is adequate. Generally, it's a [...]
Small businesses can keep more of their money by taking advantage of a number of ways to save. For instance, try co-sponsoring an event with a complementary business in order to share the expenses as well as the networking benefits. Join a professional organization that offers discounts and other beneficial perks that will help you [...]
With the March first deadline, many are ready to contribute to their RRSP accounts, but you might want to put your money elsewhere. While RRSP investments grow and can be bought and sold with no tax consequences, they are taxed at withdrawal. TFSA has the benefit of growing tax-free and funds not being taxed at [...]
Employee share purchase plans (ESPPs) are common, but they can be further complicated by cross-border issues. When buying company shares from a U.S. based company, you run into tax issues that are unique to U.S. companies. Often for ESPPs you are buying multiple shares over time, and you are subject to the U.S. exchange rate [...]
A large majority of Canadian investors contribute to TFSAs. Overall, these plans can be a great way to save for retirement, but some investors make costly mistakes when contributing to these accounts. For instance, exceeding your contribution limit will result in a penalty. Carefully track all transactions in your TFSA, including deposits and withdrawals, so [...]
