RRSP Overcontributions

If you over-contribute to your RRSP, you can withdraw the funds tax free. Why tax free? You never got to deduct them from income in the first place. While they are in your RRSP and are over your limit, they will accrue a 1% per month penalty which can accumulate interest charges at the going prescribed quarterly rate. If you leave your over contributions in the account for a long time, you will find that the 1% penalty and the interest will eat up the entire over contribution, which can be rather shocking to discover.

Rule of Law: Executor and Trustee Fees

Rule of Law: Executor and Trustee Fees

F. Scott... revealing the writer's financial status

How fascinating to read how F. Scott chose to live and spend his resources...

http://www.theamericanscholar.org/living-on-500000-a-year/

TFSA's

There's a whole side to this TFSA thing that no one is talking about.  They had a problem with the T5008 reporting by brokers because those dispositions are deemed dispositions, and they aren't reported on the T5008.  It's one thing if you sell in something that was in a loss position, because there's a stop loss anyway, but it's quite another if there's a gain.  Same goes for RRSP's and RESP's or any transfer to a trust from a non trust.  Could even be losses are blocked by other purchases by affiliated persons within the 60 day window. 

I had some senior exec from a life insurance company call me to ask where I was getting the notion that deemed proceeds had to be reported, (I wrote about it in Canadian MoneySaver one month) and it turns out that CRA says they do in the definition of proceeds in the guide about how to fill out the T5008, but then cleverly get out of it further down in the exemptions from reporting half way through the guide. 

So if you've been believing that those T5008's were all you needed to report your proceeds of disposition on your tax return, think again.  Even if you have a stop loss you are required by law to report ALL dispositions, not just those that make a profit.

Started a new research page in my TaxLinks

This one's about the change to HST for BC and Ontario.  I don't think anyone is very clear yet about how this will affect us.

If you want to access the page, it's part of TaxLinks, found on my shopping cart.  The Portal takes you into my private research pages on projects on the go.  It's also where you will find my notes from tax update courses and court cases that were cited in these cases or other cases I found that were interesting and I found them on http://www.canlii.org/

Spousal RRSP's

You want to be careful that you aren't claiming the spousal RRSP contribution on the wrong spouse's return. 

What a pain, to have to withdraw the contributions due to over contribution

If you don't voluntarily disclose before they catch you there's a 1% per month penalty for overcontribution on top of the tax, penalties and interest for deducting it from the wrong person.  T1OVP's and T3012's make my head hurt. 

Explanation about why TFSA rules are being revised

There's always someone who will find a way to spoil it for the rest of us...

http://www.advisor.ca/advisors/news/industrynews/article.jsp?content=20091019_150531_8340

Finance release on TFSA changes

Changes to TFSA's already.  It seems that it didn't take very long for investors to figure out how to overcontribute to the TFSA or to transfer/swap assets around to take advantage.

Interesting that all asset transfers will be blocked.  It seems you can still swap/transfer to/from your RRSP, but not your TFSA.  If you know the story of why this is happening drop me a comment.

Canadian women in home offices

I started a new group for Canadian women in home offices because there wasn't one when I searched on LinkedIn.  This has always been interesting to me because I've been in a home office since 1986.  First it was a plank on two sawhorses in the basement, then my husband and I tussled over the front bedroom.  For many years I had my back to the window and then one day, I turned around the desk and faced the window.  One year a client punched a hole in the wall to create a doorway with a door straight into the front hall so I could access the front door without having to go around and through the living room to get there.  Clients could now access my office directly from the front door.  My husband loved it.  He no longer had to greet anyone who showed up to drop off or pick up a box.