Investment Q&A

Q: Shawcor had a significant amount of equity writeoffs in 2020. Is it going to be helpful in 2021?

Q: Hi group re TSFA i have $36,000 room - i was going to sell some losers Like KXS and DOC so i can claim the loss - does the fact that the cash will go into TSFA make any difference with the 30 day repurchase rule? - or does it still apply - thanks

Q: Understanding your not tax experts, do you or any members know if you can write off interest expense if you have a dedicated line of credit and invest inside a TFSA ?

Q: Hi 5i,
I recently topped up Bam.a and want to crystallize a loss on one of Brookfield’s subsidiaries in a taxable account. Will the loss be disallowed by CRA if I do not wait 30 days from settlement of the recent BAM.a purchase?
Tia,

Q: I am sure this question has been asked before. As a general rule of the thumb that stocks, and etfs should be held in various accounts.
Accounts:
CAD Cash
US Cash
RSP
TFSA

I think I know that US Dividend payers should be in RSP, Growth in TFSA, but do you have a high level how to best allocate various types of Stock assets for Cad, US, and International, along with sector allocation or divend?

Thanks.

Q: Hi, friends!
I collected some money from BMO dividend and would like to invest in VOO ETF , but I am afraid of double taxation on capital gain and dividend, in Canada and USA!
Can you tell me when I have to pay taxes for USA and Canada and approximately how much?
I am retire with a small pension, 71 yr.
Thank you, very much
!

Q: If i sell shares in a specific company, say RBC, at a loss and use the proceeds to buy a sector ETF that contains even a small portion of RBC within thirty days, are my losses still considered capital losses by the CRA

thanks

al

Q: If ones owns shares in company ‘x’ in their TFSA, and one wants to buy more shares but they have no more cash in their TFSA, what is left is buying more shares in a cash account. In the cash account, is the cost base determined only on the shares in the cash account, or are the shares inside the TFSA used in the cost base determination?
Thank you

Q: Peter,

I see the ACB on m TOI spinoff is extremely low. I would expect any deemed dividend on the T3 at year end to reflect this tiny amount as a dividend. Is this the way you see it?

Thank You

Paul

Q: I have held Alaris pre conversion for some time now in a taxable account . Since the conversion to a UN , now tax wise I am wondering whether it makes sense to even hold it in a taxable account. I am considering selling for those reasons.
Could I ask for your opinions in regards to AD.UN specific composition for Canadian income tax purposes?
Thanks

Q: In non-registered account we had huge gains in solid dividend payers (ENB, SLF,CNR,FTS) and last year against tax-loss selling was able to reduce weight in portfolio to approximately 4% each. Donated some shares to charities and also gifted some to son (still had to pay capital gains but didn't hurt as much because benefit is still in the family). New money has been going to growth securities and thanks to your advise in time we may have huge capital gains again. Are there other strategies for dealing with this happy problem?

Q: I am interested in investing in some US ETFs. I would put these into an RRSP account. Would there be tax consequences re the CRA or IRS in doing so? I imagine that there would be tax complications if they were held in a margin account.

Q: Ric asked a question about selling a stock, for a loss, that he had only just purchased 15 days earlier. Jamie Golembek had a very interesting article in the FP this past weekend, where he states that it is not necessarily straightforward, particularly if you only sell part of the holding, and not 100% of it, when that that holding was only just purchased within the prior 30 days before its ultimate sale. Certainly worth the read, because the CRA has a formula that they apparently follow.

Please see the link: https://financialpost.com/personal-finance/taxes/investors-should-beware-this-quirk-in-the-superficial-loss-rule-when-filing-their-taxes

Q: I was looking for the makeup of their last couple of years' distribution but their website had nothing. Can you help please? Specifically, I'm curious if it was all return of capital. Thanks a lot as usual.

Q: I bought a stock and sold it 15 days later at a lower price. Can I take a capital loss on this?

Q: Hi 5i
First time, Itrade has issued me a T5008 slip reporting around 30 ITEMS I bought/sold
indicating amounts for box-20 (book Value) and box-21 (Proceeds) .
I’ going to make up some numbers here for this example: Totals for
BOX20 = 500K , BOX21 = 650K , Gain = 150K .
I CASHED 90K, the other 60K was reinvested in the same
account. I should be taxed only in 90K?
I should only declare in my TAX return 90K ? correct?

Thanks

Q: hi there - recognising you are not tax experts i will ask anyways so if members can point me in the right direction. I received a 1099 form from CIBC but it doesn't specifiy which securities it covers. I am trying to confirm if these dividends are also covered on the T3 or is this separate?

Q: I don't often get timing right and mostly I get it right when I am not trying to. I sold AC (for a profit) mostly because I found other things that I could hold longer. AC may or may not sell off more but if I were to re-buy inside the 30 day window will that reduce my capital gains tax by averaging?

Q: I bought a spread call on Nexflix as one transaction and occur a loss. Do I report as 2 transactions on my taxes or one transaction? One option is profit and another one at loss. Am I allowed to claim a loss or it is not allowed for under 30 days.

Are there any specific Tax rules on trading spread options?

Thanks for the great service

Q: I am a very disgruntled customer after seeing my seeing my rrsp account (ETF STOCK NAME REMOVED) go from a gain to a loss due a notional payment/distribution (AKA phantom payment) causing my adjusted cost base to increase by $1.24. If my account wouldn't have shown a loss I wouldn't have picked up on this. After talking to your help line I am even more dissatisfied.
What is a notional payment?
It is a distribution declared by a fund or trust where no cash is paid to unit holders, but is considered taxable at the time it is declared. Notional payments are declared to avoid paying taxes on income earned within a fund or trust, but where the fund manager does not wish to deplete the resources of the fund or trust by paying distributions in cash. Notional distributions, sometimes called “phantom distributions” are taxable in the year declared, and will increase the adjusted cost base (ACB) of the security. You can usually identify a notional payment by looking for a TXPDDV payment, followed by a DRIP debit, for 0 shares.
If I understood what (ETF COMPANY NAME REMOVED) is doing with these so called distributions I would have never bought the etf as it makes such a small interest rate and then my adjusted cost base goes up by $1.24 by this phantom distribution causing a loss in(ETF STOCK NAME REMOVED). I am better off keeping cash in my account than holding (ETF STOCK NAME REMOVED).
This practice of passing on phantom distributions and causing losses to customers seems like a sneaky under handed way to pass on costs to keep your MER lower. I have lost trust in (COMPANY NAME REMOVED) ETF's.