<p>A life interest in real estate provides an exclusive right to use a property during the lifetime of the holder of the interest. Often, an individual will incorporate a life interest on a transfer of a property by way of gift to a relative in order to ensure that the individual has use of the property during their lifetime, to know for certain who will own the property when they die, and to avoid probate fees upon death.</p>

<p>Provinces have legislation that allows for the creation of not-for-profit entities to collect fees from owners of certain real property to pay expenses for the upkeep and maintenance of the property. These entities are often known as condominium corporations. The issue then arises as to whether or not GST/HST applies to the fees being charged.</p>

<p>There comes a time eventually when every farm will need be sold. Often, farms are sold by the owner&rsquo;s choice, upon retirement or to transfer to the next generation. In other cases the sale is forced, as in the case of death, disability or financial difficulty. Whether the sale is made to the neighbour down the road or to the farmer&rsquo;s children, perhaps at less than fair market value, planning is necessary to ensure the sale takes place in a tax-efficient manner. A farm owner has several options.</p>

<p>Safe income accumulates to particular shareholders on a per-share basis, with consideration given to the holding period of the share. This can result in differing amounts of safe income for different shareholders, particularly where reorganizations have occurred in the past or where shares have changed hands. As a result, an understanding of the share ownership history is required.</p>

<p>Trusts are important tools in Canadian tax and estate planning.&nbsp;Discretionary family trusts, in particular, have become common and are continually evolving. Some of the most powerful benefits of these tools include:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Flexibility</strong> &ndash; the ability to maintain control of assets while directing income and value as the trustees see fit.</li> <li><strong>Income splitting</strong> &ndash; directing income of the trust to lower-income beneficiaries (usually family members) to minimize the overall family tax burden.</li> <li><strong>Capital splitting</strong> &ndash; allocating capital gains to beneficiaries, enabling the use of multiple capital gains exemptions.</li> </ul>

<p>Canadian persons that spend significant time in the United States can become subject to U.S. taxation and reporting requirements unexpectedly, even if they are not earning income from U.S. sources.&nbsp; Starting June 30th, 2014 a new initiative will begin that is designed to track a Canadian person&rsquo;s movement across the Canada/U.S. border.&nbsp; Prior to this new initiative, many Canadian persons felt, perhaps justifiably, that U.S. authorities had no way of actually knowing how many days they were present within their border.</p>

<p>As tax professionals, we are often asked by clients to explain the concept and appropriate uses of holding companies. The answer generally is not straightforward; a variety of tax and commercial factors are relevant in any particular case. Though it is beyond the scope of this article to provide a complete list of potential benefits and drawbacks, an introduction to several key issues will be examined.</p>

<p>Selling your farm is supposed to be tax free, right? At least the first $800,000. So why is that not always the case, and what can you do about it?</p>

I recently delivered a webinar to a group of associates at one of my law firm clients, as part of the firm’s internal CPD and training program. Among the advice I gave the associates was a recommendation to start looking for opportunities to streamline their work, increase their efficiency, and reduce their own “cost of doing business,” in order to make themselves and their practice groups more competitive and effective.

This article could equally well be called "How to prevent your competitors from stealing your clients." It's not that these other lawyers lack ethics, values and courtesy. It's just that as practices diminish, revenues have to be obtained somewhere to support the firm and its employees. The bottom line is that others may have your clients in their crosshairs. So what are you supposed to do about this? Here are seven suggestions:

Although changes in income tax legislation make tax planning for taxpayers increasingly challenging, tax legislation specific to farmers remains relatively unchanged and can be quite favourable. There are many cases where farmland has been transferred through generations and has not been farmed for many years.