Death And Taxes - Two Certainties Of Life
(NC)-There are no estate taxes or succession duties in Canada. However, taxes upon death have not disappeared. When a person dies, there is a 'deemed disposition' of all capital property. What does that mean? It means that the government treats all your property (unless jointly held) such stocks, bonds, RRSPs, real estate, etc as sold at fair market value on the day of your death. Your estate will be required to pay capital gains tax on that property.
This applies to your RRSP if you do not have a spouse to whom you can transfer it. Careful planning can reduce or defer the taxes owing. Without an estate plan, you could lose nearly half of the value of your gains to taxes. While your Executor may claim full personal exemptions on your final income tax return, your estate may end up paying taxes at the highest tax rate (over 50%). If you do not have a Will, or if your Will has not been updated recently, it may be a good time to get the job done to avoid tax complications.
What is Probate?"Probate" is the recognition by the provincial court of the validity of your Will and the appointment of the person named as your Executor. Granting of the "letters probate" is notice to the public that your Will complies with the basic formal requirements and that the Will was not being challenged at the time of application. Reducing Probate FeesIn some provinces, the Executor must apply to the court for "letters probate" in order to begin administering an estate. These fees are payable to the provincial government based on the value of certain assets in your estate. There have been increases over the years in provincial probate fees.
There are ways to arrange your affairs to reduce these probate fees. Again, estate planning helps identify these issues and reduce any negative impact on your estate.It sounds complicated!Estate planning need not be complicated or expensive. First, who knows better than you what you want done with the things that you've worked all your life to build. Second, seek the professional advice of an expert to guide you on the financial and legal implications to ensure that you get the most favourable tax treatment possible. If you do not have a Will, or if your Will has not been updated recently, perhaps it is time to meet with a lawyer and get the job done.
Take the first step; call Ontario March of Dimes toll-free at 1-800-263-3463 x 383 for a free copy of "My Personal Organizer" - a handy estate planning tool..
News Canada provides a wide selection of current, ready-to-use copyright free news stories and ideas for Television, Print, Radio, and the Web. News Canada is a niche service in public relations, offering access to print, radio, television, and now the Internet media, with ready-to-use, editorial "fill" items. Monitoring and analysis are two more of our primary services. The service supplies access to the national media for marketers in the private, the public, and the not-for-profit sectors. Your corporate and product news, consumer tips and information are packaged in a variety of ready-to-use formats and are made available to every Canadian media organization including weekly and daily newspapers, cable and commercial television stations, radio stations, as well as the Web sites Canadians visit most often. Visit News Canada and learn more about the NC services.Editors: These articles are for use in Ontario onlyContact Center Management Seminar Headed to San Juan, Puerto Rico
Essential Skills and Knowledge for Effective Incoming Call Center Management, a 2-day public seminar, is coming to San Juan, Puerto Rico, on May 10-11, 2005. This dynamic course was developed specifically for contact center supervisors, managers, and directors. Attendees will learn how to plan and manage call center resources, handle a growing variety of customer contacts, effectively use reports and measurements, and establish and meet performance objectives."There is an increased need for professional call center, help desk, and telecommunications training in Puerto Rico," says Nina Kawalek, President of the Chicago-based Resource Center for Customer Service Professionals. "More and more US-based companies are learning that they can outsource customer service operations off-shore to Puerto Rico without losing the security of our US borders and business practices."With an increasing Latino population in the US, bilingual spanish-english customer care operations are becoming necessary....
Contact Center Management Seminar Headed to San Juan, Puerto Rico
Tax help > Contact Center Management Seminar Headed to San Juan, Puerto Rico
Six Ways Under Your Nose To Finance Your Home-Based Business
There are lots of ways to get additional capital to expand a home-based business. But before you look outside for financing, leaving the decision about your company's progress and merits to someone else, consider these six ways under your nose to finance your home-based business:Personal Savings Savings are easy to tap and involve no paperwork. The negatives: if you use the money in your business, it eats into your safety reserve and is no longer there for emergencies. It diverts funds from a very low risk investment to a high one. Whole-Life InsuranceWhole life policies accumulate tax-deferred cash value that you can tap for your business.
But the only way you can tap this cash without paying taxes is to borrow against your policy. As long as you keep your policy intact and pay premiums when due, loans remain tax-free.The negatives: you will be converting a low risk investment into a high one; if you decide to terminate your policy or if you default on repaying your loan, taxes...
Six Ways Under Your Nose To Finance Your Home-Based Business
Tax help > Six Ways Under Your Nose To Finance Your Home-Based Business
Residential Property Abroad
It is increasingly common for individuals to own more than one property and in many cases the first investment after the family residence is in a holiday home. Whether you are buying a place in the sun, a country retreat or a city centre apartment, if it is in a foreign country you will be exposed to an unfamiliar legal system and to taxes in the country concerned. It is therefore important, even before a contract is signed, to decide whether to make the purchase in your personal name or through a company. To change course later will always be expensive. It is however usually possible to reduce exposure to tax.Buying in a personal nameAssuming the property is for personal occupation, the form of tax, which is most easily avoided, is estate or inheritance tax.
The death of the person in whose name the property is registered will normally give rise to a liability which may exceed 40% of the value at the time and the tax will usually have to be paid before the property can be sold...
Residential Property Abroad
Tax help > Residential Property Abroad
New Book Reveals More Than 100 Ways To Increase Gas Mileage And Save Money On Car Fuel Consumption
Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA (ContentDesk) March 5,2006 -- Sunny Tan, author of the controversial fuel saving guide for motorists, Gas Mileage Tactics, is re-releasing his latest edition of his book with more additional ways to help drivers save their gas money.Part fun and part enlightening, just about anyone can flick through a few pages from the book and expect to get serious results with their way of driving, which ultimately cuts down their gas mileage expenses. According to Sunny Tan, many drivers out there resort to using different sorts of high tech gadgetry and equipments and have their cars modified, just to maximize the use of every drop of liter of their gas intake. However, in the long run, this will not only cause serious damages to their vehicles, but also burn big holes in their wallets. The reason car manufacturers like Toyota and Honda spend millions investing in R&D is to develop vehicles that are safe, reliable and roadworthy. What makes you think that some backyard mechanics...
New Book Reveals More Than 100 Ways To Increase Gas Mileage And Save Money On Car Fuel Consumption
Tax help > New Book Reveals More Than 100 Ways To Increase Gas Mileage And Save Money On Car Fuel Consumption
Internal Revenue Service Continues to See E-file Grow in 2006: New Resources Help More Tax Payers Get Online
San Francisco, CA (ContentDesk) February 15, 2006 -- The Internal Revenue Service has recently announced that it is rapidly expanding e-filing efforts.
Last year, more than half of over 135 million individual tax returns were filed with efile.
The primary benefit of efile is that individuals see their tax refunds in their bank accounts on average more than twice as fast as with traditional paper methods. Also, with the Internal Revenue Service ceasing its file-by-phone Telefile service this past August, even more tax payers are encouraged to use online tax preparation methods(http://www.irs.com/efile/providers.htm).With the expansion of e-filing, independent online tax resource, IRS.com, has also expanded its efforts to guide both individual and business taxpayers to the tax information and help available across the Internet.
There are many new issues that tax payers have to deal with in...
Tax help > Internal Revenue Service Continues to See E-file Grow in 2006: New Resources Help More Tax Payers Get Online
Death And Taxes - Two Certainties Of Life