Investment Q&A

Q: Re registered plans, your very useful reply to John on 30/10 was 'With lower rates on capital gains, it is better (for most investors) to have equities outside of a registered plan where withdrawals will be taxed at the highest rate.' 

My question is, can a person transfer equities from a RRIF (or an RRSP) to a non-registered account and replace the withdrawn equity with an equivalent valued security/ies. And if so, is the withdrawl from the RRIF or RRSP considered a deemed disposition and taxable?

Thank you kindly.  

Q: Are BIP and BIPC different enough to avoid superficial tax loss rules ?

Q: Could you please expalin your comment to Paul on Oct 26th, '' it is a bit trickier because of the timing as all report earnings prioir to a 30 day window..... if sold this week''
What is the significance of the timing of the sell?

Q: Hi 5i,

I have to take funds from my RRIF which is made up of stocks and fixed income. I want to confirm my thinking on the subject.

I think it is better to take out my stocks first and then in later years the fixed income. My thinking is that the stocks will appreciate faster than the fixed income thus creating more RRIF capital to remove in later years which will cause additional tax. It is better to have the additional appreciation outside of the RRIF.

Do you agree?

Thanks for the help.
John

Q: RE purchasing US treasuries

Hello 5i,
Once or twice I have tried to purchase bonds from my discount broker RBC direct investing. The process to purchase is fairly easy (you will face a hit up front on the bond price compared to the open market). However, when selling a bond or treasury that's when a DIY investor is really at a loss. You call up RBC and then the agent will consult the "manager in the bond department" and they will decide on a price they will give you for the asset you wish to sell. Kind of like a car dealership! It truly is a grey market where your discount broker has all the control of the sale of that fixed asset. Also, if looking at treasuries, you must commit to $10k USD and can't buy, for example in smaller increments, like I wish to do for a family member in a conservative TFSA.

IS there an ETF suggestion for a 10, 20 30 year treasury in USD? Not what i really want, but will mirror the moves in this market, I suppose? TLT is the 20 year. What is the 10 year, 30 year?

Also, can you confirm that the interest paid on the treasury would be tax exempt if held in a TFSA? If tax on interest is exempt in a TFSA, would it still be exempt if one holds the ETF and not the treasury itself?

Q: This is a tough year for investors and I think most of us are interested in the optimum timing to sell your losers (to lock in your tax losses) and then perhaps reacquired the same loser you just sold after 30 days. I've never done any such "linked transactions" before and hope to get some guidance in that regard.

I kind of look at the first 15 days of November for such sales and then the first 15 days of December for requiring those shares (if the price is enticing then). What do you think of the two windows I proposed? What do the more experienced investors do in terms of timing in making this sell and then buy back maneuver.

Please advise.

Q: I just sold the above stocks to harvest tax losses. I intend to repurchase them in 30 days. How important (or prudent) is it, in your opinion, to purchase proxies for them? What could you recommend if your feel it is useful to do so?

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.

Q: thinking about purchasing some bip.un and just wondering as long as i hold in my registered account [rrsp] will i get all dividends or will there be a withholding tax.
thanks

Q: Hello, Is it better to purchase Canadian bank stocks in a RRSP or non registered acct and why ?

What about U.S. bank stocks?

Thanks so much.

Q: Retired dividend-income investor. I own Park Lawn (70% in my Cash account and 30% in my TFSA). I am down 10% in the Cash account (without the dividends) and down 45% in my TFSA. My current thought is to sell all of my PLC shares held in my Cash account, wait at least 30 days and then re-evaluate and potentially add to my PLC-TFSA shares. I still believe in PLC, but think it might be a while before a rebound occurs and I could capture the capital loss.

Question #1 = I just wanted to check with you that the above plan would meet the CRA superficial tax loss rules (STLR).

Q#2 = Further, my understanding regarding "STLR" are that it does not matter if you hold the same security in multiple accounts (RRSP, TFSA, Cash) and if you are up or down in any of these accounts, that if you wish to claim a loss related to a sale in the Cash account, as long as you don't buy or sell in any account within the 30 day window either before or after the "sale" date, then the sale will meet the CRA Tax Loss requirements. Am I correct?

Thanks in advance for the clarification...Steve

Q: We're well into tax loss season. What looks like the best Canadian investments today? I'm a balanced investor - 83 years old, not needing the money and wanting top gift the children.

John

Q: My plan is delay OAS, at the same time trying to not go overboard on dividend-payers in my taxable account to limit the clawback. I'm wondering if adding REITs instead tend to help that situation.

Generally speaking, is the payout from Canadian REITs such as GRT.UN and DIR.UN in a form that is beneficial in that regard? Is there a CAD ETF that invests in the U.S. that might also be a good idea?

I hope this doesn't come across as tax advice.

Q: If one were to sell Brookfield Renewables (BEPC) taking a capital loss would you be in contravention of the 30 day buyback rule if you immediately purchased Brookfield Corp (BN)?

Thanks for the great service.

Q: I am down considerably on BNS. Even though it is a bank stock, would it be appropriate to sell it for a tax loss?
Thank you

Q: I spent some time reading the Offer to Exchange as I was thinking of doing this even before the offer came out. I am trying to reduce my taxable income because of the clawback of OAS and the RoC distributions works for that. However, I noticed that this will be a taxable event, ie it will generate a capital gain or loss on the BN shares that are exchanged. For long time holders with a capital gain it may not be worth doing. I didn't see any mention of the tax consequences in previous questions.

Q: Hello,
Based on their financial statements, are these companies worth keeping or exit before year end for capital loss?
Thanks
CR

Q: If one believed that now was a good time to start picking away at beaten up stocks, how much should the fear of tax loss selling in the next 6 weeks weigh on the decision of whether or not to buy now or wait? Probably not a great way to invest pitting the fear of short term loss against fomo. Could you also highlight 10 or 12 Cdn stocks that in your opinion are the most vulnerable to taking a big tax loss selling hit this year. Thank you.

Q: I have some US$ and want to buy BEPC:US. I held BEP:US and a few years ago and faced higher taxes on dividends and maybe capital gains from the US with a partnership - can you confirm this will not be the case with BEPC:US? I also just bought BCE:US - can you please confirm that I will still get the Canadian dividend tax credit for with BCE:US and BEPC:US.
Thanks!

Q: Regarding your very quick response to my question yesterday where you stated "Capital gains are treated the same as Canadian gains, but must be converted to C$ for tax purposes." ZSP is a Canadian listed equity in Canadian dollars so I assume that I will not need to make any conversion when taking a capital gain? If I alternatively buy HXS (or HXQ) will capital gains be treated as Canadian only?
Thank you.

Q: If I buy ZSP in a non-registered account, are the dividends and capital gains treated as Canadian or US?