REIT Taxation

The following post is written by Brian So, an insurance advisor and blogger at briansoinsurance.com. Introduction to REITs REITs, also known as Real Estate Investment Trusts, are publicly listed companies that own income-producing real estate. Their assets include hotels, shopping malls, office buildings and apartments. Originally created in 1960 by the United States, REITs have spread worldwide and have a strong presence in Canada as well. In order to qualify as a REIT (in Canada), at least 95% of its income must come from real estate assets, and at least 80% of its properties must be located in Canada. The …

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MLP Taxation in Canadian Accounts

The following post is written by Brian So, an insurance advisor and blogger at briansoinsurance.com. Introduction to MLPs Master Limited Partnerships, or MLPs, are publicly traded investment partnerships based in the U.S. They combine the liquidity of a publicly traded company with the tax efficiency of limited partnerships. The business is structured with a general partner in charge of operations, and limited partners providing the capital. Units of the partnership represent the limited partner’s stake in the company, and are traded publicly on stock exchanges. In order to qualify as a MLP, the partnership must derive at least 90% of …

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Canadian Dividends and the Dividend Tax Credit

The following post is written by Brian So, an insurance advisor and blogger at briansoinsurance.com. While my previous posts focused on the impact of withholding tax on dividends paid from the US and foreign companies, I realize that most people have a high concentration of their portfolio in the Canadian market. Therefore, to wrap up my mini-series on dividends, the last topic will be on dividends paid by Canadian companies. Don’t worry, there won’t be any complex withholding tax rules discussed in this post. Dividends are payments made by corporations to their shareholders. Because dividends are paid out of after-tax …

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In What Account Should Canadians Hold International (Non U.S.) Dividend Stocks?

The following post is written by Brian So, an insurance advisor and blogger at briansoinsurance.com. Since my last post generated a lot of interesting discussions on which account to hold US stocks and ETFs, I’ll follow it up with a post on the impact of withholding taxes of holding (non-US) international dividend stocks in different accounts. Canada does not just have tax treaties with the US with respect to dividends paid to Canadians from US stocks. We also have tax treaties with 89 other countries in force and treaties signed but not in force with about a dozen other countries. …

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