Tax

Making the most of vacation homes

Here’s a know-your-clients question. How many of your clients own vacation homes? If you were to add up all the cottages, condos and time shares, you might be surprised at the extent of second home ownership. Indeed, the value of vacation homes in Canada seems to have exploded over the past decade. Statistics Canada, which […]

By Michelle Munro |May 27, 2010

5 min read

Tax-advantaged investing

Investors have been enjoying a broad equity market rally for the past year, but many market commentators are sounding cautious about future gains. It’s a stock picker’s market now, the refrain goes, suggesting that the easy money has been made. On the fixed income side of the portfolio, yields remain stubbornly low, and investors are […]

By Steven Lamb |May 12, 2010

7 min read

The incorporated employee

One of the most litigated personal tax issues in Canada concerns whether a person who provides services to a corporation is acting in his or her capacity as an “employee” or is an “independent contractor.” Individuals often attempt, where possible, to structure their services as independent contractors, since the types of expenses that can be […]

By Jamie Golombek |May 10, 2010

3 min read

New rules for employee perks

The federal budget has key changes that will impact ownership and disposition of employer stock options. For those of you with clients who participate in public company employer stock option plans or whose investment portfolios currently include shares acquired under such plans, last month’s federal budget included some important changes that may affect strategies relating […]

By Gena Katz |May 10, 2010

3 min read