Tax Shock Adds to Family Heartbreak

Last month the sad story of an Ontario family who suddenly lost both parents in 2024 was shared in Burlington Today.  The tax outcomes were just as shocking as the two deaths from unrelated causes.  There was a cottage, a large RRSP and a big tax bill.   Some of the outcomes could have been mitigated with some planning.   I sat down with CTV’s Pat Foran to discuss the outcomes – with a message important to family planning.  

How do advisors successfully engage multiple generations in a digital world in order to build and sustain family wealth?

It’s an important cross-over: for the first time, Canada’s 65-year-olds have outnumbered children ages 0 to 14.

The first transfer of Canadian banking information to the Internal Revenue Service was completed September 30, as reported last week.  That was the result of a September 16 appeal in which The Honourable Mr. Justice Martineau of the Canadian Federal Court in Vancouver ruled that the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) legislation is both legal under Canadian law and not inconsistent with the U.S./Canada Tax Treaty.

An argument that is mathematically possible will not avail a taxpayer who is found by the Court not to be credible.  That was the unfortunate result for a taxpayer who took on CRA in a case of unreported income.

Last week we discussed reasons why an increased TFSA contribution limit is very helpful in building wealth for seniors. But the TFSA is an even more powerful tool for millennials, who should maximize their contribution room to build a tax-free retirement surplus that is potentially increased by the longer compounding time afforded to the young.

We’re in the midst of one of the biggest platform shifts in a generation and our data shows that there is a new 24 hour expectation of service that comes with it, says Rachelle Amyotte, Intuit Canada’s Accountant Business Development Leader, who will be a keynote speaker at the Distinguished Advisor Workshops.