Investment Q&A

Q: I asked something about BCAT a little while ago and I now have another question. It appears that the monthly distributions are issued as a return of capital; can you pls confirm if that is the case. And secondly, is a return of capital by a US entity still a return of capital for Canadian tax purposes, or does CRA treat it as interest? I know tax is not your forte, but any info you can provide would be great. Thanks for your excellent service.

Q: Does the 30-40% of the dividend being return of capital in this fund mean that NAV is always being eroded? I want to buy this for the long term but not if NAV is obviously always declining.

Q: My brother in law is asking me about flow through shares.
Can you provide me with some pros and cons of flow through shares.
a sense of the flow through sales industry, i.e. % commissions on the sale of these products.
How risky are they in your experience.
Do the tax breaks / incentives actually warrant the investment?
The sales pitch is that it is for high income earners, is that really because, they are the ones who can afford to lose the investment

Q: I'm considering buying HDIV ETF. On the ETF website it shows a 2023 total distribution of $1.974 and a ROC (return of capitol) of $ 1.66201 . After watching a video of ROC sometimes the ROC is not a reduction of NAV but just for tax purposes. And in some instances it is actually a return of your own capital and your NAV is reduced. Can you give some clarity on ROC. And how to determine if an ETF in my investment account has dropped in value from return of my own capital or loss of the underlying securities of ETF? My personal situation all my investment accounts are RRSP and TSFSA.

Thanks, Brian.

Q: what info do you have about this company.
thanks
ralph.

Q: With ETFs like these with high high returns but also high return on capital which contribute to these returns is it more beneficial to keep them in a taxable accounts or non taxable accounts like RRSP or TFSA ?
Thank you.

Q: In 2024, I put some money in BMO HISA accounts (ex: BMT109- not sure how to call them). The distributions are reinvested, not paid. Do you know if BMO will declare the interest paid at the end of the year, or will I have to declare them only when I sell some of it? Good day.

Q: Hello 5i Team,

In an answer to a recent question about HESM, you stated:

"HESM is a US limited partnership, and has VERY onerous tax implications for Canadians..."

Is there a website that maintains an up-to-date list of US limited partnership stocks with additional tax implications for Canadian investors?

Thanks in advance for your always helpful advice!

Q: Good evening,

I know you may not be a tax site but I recently heard that their may be some sort of restriction on Canadians holding foreign assets. Something to the effect of you need a certain ratio of Canadian assets to foreign assets. I don't think this is the case but if it sounds familiar could you please point me in the direction of more resources?

Thanks

Q: I realize there are no withholding taxes on BIP.UN in an RRSP

What about taxes in a tfsa

Thank you

Q: I REALIZE THAT ESTATE QUESTIONS ARE NOT YOUR EXPERTISE HOWEVER THIS IS MY QUESTION. IF ONE HAS A LARGE VALUE OF USA DOLLAR STOCK DOES ONE'S ESTATE HAVE TO PAY ESTATE TAX. COULD YOU REFERENCE ME TO A SUITABLE SITE THAT COULD TELL ME THE AMOUNT OVER WHICH US$ TAX APPLIES AND BECOMES TAXABLE ON A VERY LARGE CANADIAN AND US PORTFILIO?

THANKS

Q: Hi folks, I had invested in LQID before they halted... I'm assuming the company is toast - what are the chances of even getting back some of my investment dollars? What are my next steps?
Thx,
Kevin

Q: What are the tax implications of owing the iShares Gold Trust (IAU) in RRSP and non-RRSP accounts? Is IAU treated the same as other US ETFs for Canadians, from a tax perspective?

I recently read that the US taxes gold as a collectible, at a higher tax rate than equities. Does this apply to Canadians who own IAU?

Thank you for this excellent service.

Q: Good evening!
I have shares of BCE at an ACB of $55.40, which today closed at $47.03. I thought maybe of establishing a rather large capital loss for future use by selling them and buying Telus as a proxy for the necessary holding time frame of 31 days to confirm the loss. However, looking at the charts I saw that Telus has been fairing a bit better than BCE lately, so I am not sure that there would be some 'reversion-to-the-mean' happening during the 31 days. That could mean I end up with less shares of BCE when the dust settles!
Sort of a two-parter here. First of all, is this a good idea at all? Second of all, if it is, is there perhaps another 'proxy' you might suggest I look at?
Thanks!
Paul K

Q: Hello 5i, I own Crew in a cash acct and will wait for the conversion to shares of Tourmaline. My question is will this transaction be considered as a taxable disposition of my Crew shares?

Q: I'm leaning towards emax in a cash account to diversify with the US holdings even though encc has a higher yield.

What are the tax implications of emax vs. encc.

emax writes in the money options on 30% of the holdings
I cannot find this data for encc

Thank you

Q: I currently hold NVDA in non-registered account and two registered accounts. In view of the poor performance and perhaps a low future growth in the automotive industry, I am thinking of selling my position in the non-registered account, harvest a capital loss and initiate a position in NVDA. I am trying to take advantage of the pullback in NVDA and increase the growth profile. Understanding your limitation in providing advice on this move, your opinion of the pros and cons of this switch would be appreciated.

Q: For reporting exchange rates re capital gains on the sale of US securities that are kept in USD rather than being converted to CAD after the sale, is there a particular site you can recommend - such as the Bank of Canada daily exchange rates? If so, would the noon-hour or closing rate be used and is it the trade or settlement date that should be used for reporting? Or, is the retail exchange rate charged by the brokerage more appropriate? I find it can be difficult to find historical exchange rates on the websites of many financial institutions. Thanks.

Q: Good morning team, I’m contributing to a non registered account for the first time as I’m maxed out in my tfsa and rrsp. My goal is to invest in dividend paying etfs and select dividend stocks while trying to take advantage of the dividend tax credit. I’m looking for yields north of 4%. XDIV looks good to me so far. How would HDIV and HYLD be taxed? Thoughts and suggestions? Thanks

Q: I’m trying to get to the bottom of whether or not CDRs are considered U.S.-situs property for Canadian citizens/residents who don’t otherwise have any U.S. connection (other than through their stock market investments). If one checks the CDR website (https://cdr.cibc.com/#/contact), there is the following statement: “The application of U.S. federal estate tax to CDR holders is dependent on an individual’s particular circumstances and CIBC does not provide tax advice. As such, CDR holders should consult their own tax advisors regarding the U.S. federal estate tax consequences of investing in the CDRs.” I have never seen any “official” document on any website that provides a clear answer. Are you aware of anything “official” out there that is definitive in this regard? I am looking for a definitive source (reference) that can be cited in this regard. (And please make the assumption when addressing this question that the Canadian account holder in question would have sufficient overall assets that they would be subject to U.S. estate taxes, if indeed CDRs for U.S. corporations are indeed considered to be U.S.-situs assets.) (I realize you are not tax experts/advisors, but this does seem to be a rather basic issue that must somewhere have a clear cut "official" answer.)
Ted