Question: My husband and I painted and shampooed the carpet at our condo yesterday after our tenant moved out and prepared the place for the new tenant to move in. We obviously needed to eat so we got lunch. Should we save the receipt for lunch to put as our expense for the year-end? Does [...]
I’ve written previously about what you should look for in a real estate accountant. But I want to talk in-depth about a few points that we often discuss: The key to the whole she-bang – practical and technical experience Size matters – small, large, and medium-sized firms? High standards – ethics is a two-way street [...]
Andrei Angelkovski, of www.beachinvesting.com, interviewed George on accounting and tax issues for real estate investors for his blog. The interview covered: 1. Should we incorporate or not? 2. What are the top 3 things people think they can expense but cannot? 3. What are 3 tips you would offer real estate investors about accounting and tax? [...]
I am often asked, “Is my REIN membership deductible?” While the Canada Revenue Agency debates this, I’ll argue until I’m blue in the face that for the vast majority of serious real estate investors, the answer is an unequivocal YES. While I agree with the CRA that the amount is not a tax credit under the [...]
Recently I was asked again (it’s actually a common question) “why should I buy real estate if I’m already in a high tax bracket?” Not to be a smart aleck, but, why the heck not? Yes, you’re in a higher tax bracket and will pay more taxes than someone who earns less. But, surely you [...]
Question: If hold a property for 23 years and then sell it, is the income treated as a capital gain or as income? Answer: Many people wrongly believe that holding a property for a given period of time will ensure the profits on sale are treated as capital, and thus are only 50% taxable, versus treating [...]
Reading The Great White Tax Haven, which explores how high net-worth individuals are immigrating to and investing in our country, underlined to me again how much we have to get out of our Canadian psyche that we’re overtaxed and unattractive to investors. While there are, in my opinion, a variety of problems with the administration of [...]
Once you have your family trust set up, how do you stay on the right side of Canada Revenue Agency? Usually family trusts require an annual tax return, due March 31st, dependent on circumstances that you’ll need to discuss with your accountant. You must also file T3 tax slips each year that you distribute assets [...]
In Part 1 of this series on family trusts, I discussed what a family trust is and how their potential benefits for real estate investors. Now, I’d like to explore my favourite example of how you can potentially use a family trust, which relates to funding a young child’s or grandchild’s post-secondary education, apprenticeship, new business [...]
Family trusts are a cost-effective tool to meet multiple tax, legal and business objectives for real estate investors, and are therefore becoming a more prevalent tool for real estate investors. Let’s explore why family trusts merit your consideration. What is a trust? In simple terms, a trust is a relationship where at least one person [...]
