<span class="post-content">PART TWO: <span class="post-content">This technical bulletin covers the various developments from January to March 2015. Collins Barrow regularly publishes Technical Bulletin for the general interest of its clients and friends to highlight the continually changing accounting and assurance standards, and the interpretations thereof, in Canada.</span></span>

<p>Canadian-controlled private corporations (CCPCs) earning business income can enjoy significant tax advantages. The federal and provincial governments have incentives for small business owners to reinvest profits for expansion, job creation and investment. Read on to discover the tax advantages benefitting small businesses to minimize your tax burden.&nbsp;</p>

Planning your estate? The federal government has passed new legislation that could have a&nbsp;dramatic impact on how your estate is taxed. Effective January 2016, amendments to the testamentary trust legislation will tax beneficiaries at the top marginal rate, eliminating the ability to use the graduated rates to help reduce the overall tax burden. Read on to discover if or how these changes will affect you.

<div> <p>U.S. persons with a financial interest in or signature authority over financial accounts maintained outside of the U.S. must fill out a FinCEN Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR), or face penalties from the IRS.&nbsp; Read on to learn more about the FBAR filing requirements.</p> </div>

<p class="p1">En d&eacute;pit des nombreuses pr&eacute;occupations et questions soulev&eacute;es par l&rsquo;ensemble des fiscalistes, les nouvelles dispositions l&eacute;gislatives relatives aux fiducies testamentaires ont re&ccedil;u la sanction royale le 16 d&eacute;cembre 2014. Comme l&rsquo;indiquait le num&eacute;ro de <em>Tax Alert </em>du 25 novembre 2014 intitul&eacute; &laquo; Modifications fiscales apport&eacute;es aux fiducies testamentaires &raquo;, les fiducies testamentaires sont maintenant sujettes au taux d&rsquo;imposition marginal le plus &eacute;lev&eacute; &agrave; moins qu&rsquo;elles ne soient admissibles &agrave; titre de succession impos&eacute;e &agrave; taux progressif ou de fiducie au profit d&rsquo;une personne handicap&eacute;e.</p>

<p>Le pr&eacute;sent article est le premier d&rsquo;une s&eacute;rie de quatre qui examineront les incidences en mati&egrave;re d&rsquo;imp&ocirc;t sur le revenu canadien et am&eacute;ricain lorsqu&rsquo;un employ&eacute; d&rsquo;une entit&eacute; canadienne est envoy&eacute; pour travailler temporairement aux &Eacute;tats-Unis. Ce premier article met l&rsquo;accent sur l&rsquo;importance de l&rsquo;&eacute;tablissement de la &laquo;&nbsp;r&eacute;sidence&nbsp;&raquo; aux fins de l&rsquo;imp&ocirc;t sur le revenu des particuliers. Les prochains articles traiteront des obligations fiscales des particuliers selon les diff&eacute;rentes d&eacute;terminations de statut de r&eacute;sidence, du concept de p&eacute;r&eacute;quation des imp&ocirc;ts, des questions relatives &agrave; la paie et des questions fiscales des soci&eacute;t&eacute;s.</p>

<p>La&nbsp;<em>Bank Secrecy Act</em>&nbsp;(BSA), loi am&eacute;ricaine vot&eacute;e par le Congr&egrave;s en 1970, a donn&eacute; au d&eacute;partement du Tr&eacute;sor le pouvoir de recueillir des renseignements aupr&egrave;s de personnes des &Eacute;tats-Unis ayant un int&eacute;r&ecirc;t financier ou le pouvoir de signature dans des comptes financiers &eacute;tablis dans des institutions financi&egrave;res situ&eacute;es en dehors des &Eacute;tats-Unis. Cette disposition de la BSA exige qu&rsquo;un Formulaire FinCEN 114,&nbsp;<em>Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts</em>&nbsp;(FBAR) soit d&eacute;pos&eacute; si les valeurs maximales totales des comptes financiers &eacute;trangers exc&egrave;dent 10&nbsp;000&nbsp;$ en tout temps durant l&rsquo;ann&eacute;e civile. Le Formulaire FinCEN 114 remplace le formulaire TD F 90-22.1 du Tr&eacute;sor. En avril&nbsp;2003, le&nbsp;<em>Financial Crimes and Enforcement Network</em>&nbsp;(FinCEN) a d&eacute;l&eacute;gu&eacute; des pouvoirs d&rsquo;ex&eacute;cution concernant la d&eacute;claration FBAR &agrave; l&rsquo;IRS (<em>Internal Revenue Service</em>). Bien que le formulaire ainsi que l&rsquo;administration et l&rsquo;ex&eacute;cution de son d&eacute;p&ocirc;t aient &eacute;t&eacute; modifi&eacute;s au fil des ans, les exigences de production en soi de la d&eacute;claration FBAR ne sont aucunement nouvelles, ayant &eacute;t&eacute; tout d&rsquo;abord mises en place en 1972.</p>

<p>In the recent decision <em>Gervais v. R.</em>, the Tax Court of Canada denied a taxpayer&rsquo;s attempt to multiply the capital gains exemption with his spouse.</p> <p>Mr. Gervais owned shares, worth approximately $2,000,000, of a family owned business. In contemplation of a sale, Mr. Gervais carried out a series of transactions seeking to use his own capital gains exemption <em>and</em> his spouse&rsquo;s capital gains exemption. His strategy involved three steps:</p>

<p>A well thought out formal plan for transferring the ownership of a family farm sets out how you will do it on your terms.&nbsp; However, what happens in the case of premature death or a severe disability that incapacitates you and you are no longer capable of making decisions?</p>

<p>When it comes to administering a deceased&rsquo;s estate, it&rsquo;s common and sometimes necessary for a friend or relative to be appointed the executor, but not many are aware of the proper steps to take for tax filing obligations. Read on to learn the essential requirements that need to be met.</p>

<p>When a farm is sold as a going concern, it is fairly common for the family home to be situated on the same parcel of land and also form part of the sale transaction.&nbsp; An important consideration in these circumstances involves the allocation of proceeds between the farming assets and principal residence of the taxpayer.&nbsp; Absent this determination, the gain ultimately attributed to the residence may be subject to income tax or at the least utilize a portion of any available capital gains exemption (capped at $800,000 / individual) should the property be &ldquo;qualified farm property.&rdquo;</p>