Investment Q&A

Q: What are you thoughts on swap or synthetic etfs? I have a basic understanding of how they work, and they seem like a good thing to pop in a non-registered account after RRSPs and TFSAs are maxed out. What do you guys think?

Q: Given the expected volatility in the upcoming U.S. Election, and not wanting to face tax consequences by selling equities outside of Registered Accounts, what reasonably priced "Puts" and duration of "Puts" would you potentially suggest placing as insurance to protect the rest of the portfolio?

Q: This is a tax question. I appreciate your help.
Let’s say you have a non- registered account. You A) own a Canadian dividend payer, like TD. It pays a dollar in dividends. You also have B) a ‘ partial return of capital’ payer, like BEP.UN. It pays a combination of dividend and return of capital. So after the gross ups, and all that, what’s left in each case. Put another way, what is the better after tax return? Thx Frank

Q: Why the CRA is targeting some TFSA accounts in court; Should an average investor be worried? by Jonathan Chevreau Aug 27, 2018 https://www.moneysense.ca/save/investing/cra-tfsa-accounts-court/

I don't think this is something I need to worry about just yet as I only have $81k in my account and my wife has $106k in her KTFSA (I call it the Kinda Tax Free Saving Account because it's kinda ok to make some money just not too much). We both still have $7k TFSA room for this yr. but we also have plenty of RRSP contribution room. In light of this article, I'm wondering if we should hold off adding to our TFSA until more clarity is provided by the either the courts or CRA.

Like many, I'm sure we aren't using our accounts like a business but at the same time I don't know what triggers an audit. Nor do I wish to find out since I don’t have the time/resources to prove our innocents. I'm starting to think this may be concerning to more than just a handful of 'savvy' investors as the article would imply.

We appreciate your insight on this topic.
Thanks

Q: Nearing retirement, and wishing to lower risk and shift out of some aggressive equities, that have considerable capital gains. The equities are in non-registered accounts, and will trigger considerable tax. How do you suggest to do this?

Q: I am retired, live on income from investments which is sufficient for my needs and carry enough capital losses from past sins so I do not have to worry much about taxes on capital gains for a few years. I assume Return on Capital is essentially a capital gain.
I have assumed that keeping growth companies in my registered accounts therefore is the wrong way to do it as I lose the capital gains advantage. I therefore only put the fixed income (interest) investments in my RRSP. As many REITs and other .UN investments have sometimes a large RoC portion, it is also a mistake for me to keep them in an RRSP. Am I making sense?

Q: Hi there,
hoping that either 5i or another member can point me to a resource that highlights the tax treatment/tax efficiency for registered versus unregistered accounts for US domiciled investment/401K etc. For example. is there a dividend tax credit for stocks held outside of a 401K.

Thansk

Q: Good afternoon,
With the spin out of Equinox's copper assets "Solaris Copper Inc. I received a letter from my brokerage firm informing me the shares of Solaris have been deemed to be a non-qualified investment for registered plans under the income tax act. Without getting into the penalties that may be incurred, can I forget the letter since my shares are in my TFSA.
Thanks,
Charlie

Q: This question is relating to the tax consequences of accepting the offer by BIP. The ECI shares are held in a non-registered account.
By tendering ECI shares, an investor will receive in exchange cash and units in BIP.UN. The exchange for cash will result in a capital gain which is taxable. Will the exchange of ECI shares for BIP.UN be a deemed disposition of the ECI shares or is it a tax free roll over?

Q: Good morning,

I have questions regarding the taxation of foreign dividends. I know that for US dividends, the 15 % tax does not apply for stocks held in a RRSP, but does so in a TSFA or regular account.

- What about non US stocks listed in the US? Are they simply treated as a US stock since they are listed in the US or do other rules apply depending on where the company is based? Good examples would be stocks like LYG (UK) or BABA (China).

- More generally, is the deduction applied automatically when the dividend is paid or does it have to be declared manually by the shareholder on its annual tax report?

I understand fiscal matters are not your specialization, but I figure you or other members might have had the same questions at some point.

Thank you!

Q: Am I getting dividend money or return on capital from ffi.un

Q: Can you please discuss tax treatment of distributions in TFSA, RRSP and investment accounts.
Thanks for your service,
Stebe

Q: Hi group please explain in simple terms how dividends are taxed both in the US and Canada . Your answer needs to cover cash and registered accounts . I have significant gains in my cash account in the US and do not fully understand the tax implication's Thanks fro all you do for us

Q: What is the most tax effective way to hold US stocks? I’m 32 with a good income, and have a full balanced tfsa holding Canadian stocks and etfs. I’m interested in building an account to hold US dividend aristocrats/Kings set up on auto deposit/drips as a set it and forget it style account. From everything I’ve read the dividend aristocrats generally have returned better than market average with good security and fairly stable growth, would you agree? I own my own companies so my income is structured to be very low tax, so I don’t need the break offered by the rrsps but I do have quite a bit of contribution room there. Would you recommend rrsp for US holdings for tax reduction, or is there a more efficient way?

Thanks

Q: Is it necessary to wait 30 days to rebuy same stocks in tfsp.Thanks

Q: Hi5i,
I am a holder of HOT for quite some time in my rrsp account. I have noticed a new non resident us deduction when getting paid the dividend. Can you explain what that is?
Thanks Dave

Q: Is there any difference / benefit of holding these in a TFSA vs RRSP (tax wise). I understand the favorable tax treatment to US stocks in an RRSP via withholding tax. What about ETFs that trade on the TSX but hold US stocks?

Thank you!

Q: I own these three US traded companies. my question is are they all bankrupt and should I be gifting them to my online brokers TD, to clean up my portfolio. mlkkf,rbeif,guesf

Q: In your TFSA if you trade US stocks do you pay capitol gains and how much of a percentage is that
Thank you

Q: Hello,
Needing confirmation about withholding taxes.

European/International stocks are held in a Canadian "wrapper" within TAXABLE account then some websites say we can get dividend tax credit and others say we cannot. Confused.

For which type of account account should I buy above two holdings where dividend taxes can be mitigated?

Thanks!