Currency Opportunity for Canadians The current value of the Canadian dollar has presented many Canadians with an opportunity to realize significant capital gains when selling their US real estate. These types of profits would have otherwise been unattainable had the dollar kept its value in the global market. This opportunity is not one that is likely [...]
The Canadian dollar might not be as strong as it once was, but that still hasn’t stopped many Canadians from investing in the US real estate market. Each day we meet with new clients who are looking to the US to develop a portfolio of residential rental properties in order to generate a secondary, or in [...]
The start of 2015 came with some very exciting news for our neighbours down in the sunshine state. Florida has officially become the 36th State to recognize and allow same sex couples to marry. This new development became official less than one week into 2015 when a federal judge’s stay on a ruling overturning the state’s [...]
There are many Canadians buying real estate in the US and anyone who has made a purchase south of the border can attest to how different the process can be. One of the main differences, which we have discussed in previous publications, is that the US does not require you to have your own legal representative. [...]
We have written a number of blogs on the topic of how many days you can spend in the US, but come June 30, 2014 a new initiative will be kicked into high gear in order to track your movement across the Canada/US border. Calculating Your Days in the United States Snowbirds have tried to get around this issue by pleading ignorance or simply believing that the US had no way of actually knowing how many days they were present within their borders, and maybe they were right. Under today’s system, both Canada and the US keep track of the day you enter the country, but not when you leave and neither country is in the habit of sharing this information with each other. However, none of this actually means that snowbirds are exempt from the rules. In fact, the implications of surpassing the number of days allowed in the US comes with dyer tax, estate, immigration and medical coverage issues. These issues have all been discussed in great detail in the past, however it is worth taking a brief moment to recap the rules. […]
On October 1, 2013, the Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) increased the prescribed interest rate to 2%. This change clearly affects Canadians looking to use prescribed rate loans as a strategy for income splitting, but prescribed rate loans used for income splitting purposes can also affect US citizens, US residents and even green card holders (collectively referred [...]
Canadians are still running to the US in hopes of yielding a higher rate of return by investing their hard earned money across the border. Many of these investments include US real estate, whether it is a multitude of rental properties, one for personal use by the family or simply for retirement. No matter what your [...]
Back in March, the Canadian government had indicated that they were looking into changing the graduated tax rates applied to testamentary trusts. Trusts have always been a tool for tax and estate planning, and although their use will likely not diminish, this overhaul will drastically alter the way in which these types of trusts are taxed. [...]
There is no denying that the United States continues to be a hot spot for many Canadians, and although the housing market crash has begun to recover, prices are still nowhere near where they once were. This coupled with the strength of our Canadian dollar means one thing; it’s a wonderful time to be Canadian. Although, [...]
