Archive for the ‘tax’ Category

The Smith Manoeuvre: Making “bad” interest “good”

Posted on: July 4th, 2014 by Real Estate Accountants

This article first appeared on georgeEdube.com. One of the largest expenses we have tends to be the mortgage on our home. Following traditional rules, we are limited to deducting at best a small percentage of the interest where we use a home office for business purposes. However, using non-traditional planning, we are able to deduct […]

Vehicle expenses – simplified logbook for deductions? Think again!

Posted on: June 6th, 2014 by Real Estate Accountants 2 Comments

Note: This article originally appeared on georgeEdube.com. Doing a logbook for all your motor vehicle expenses is hard work. You have to consistently record the trips you make related to your real estate business, such as driving to and from Home Hardware to buy paint supplies or from your business to meet a customer. In […]

Should I buy my vehicle personally or in my company?

Posted on: May 23rd, 2014 by Real Estate Accountants

It’s safe to say that I get this question about three times each month from our clients: “What makes sense from a tax perspective? Buying a car personally or in my company?” In the vast majority of cases, it’s better to buy a vehicle personally, then charge the company for your business use, by the kilometre. (For […]

Lease or buy a vehicle: What’s the best tax advantage?

Posted on: May 14th, 2014 by Real Estate Accountants

We regularly receive somewhat urgent emails from our clients about a car breaking down suddenly. Someone needs to make a decision on whether to lease or buy quickly, but they want to know: what makes sense from a tax perspective? Generally speaking, if you have a personally-owned business, or personally own two or more rental […]

From the archives: Selling one property to re-invest in another

Posted on: April 17th, 2014 by Real Estate Accountants

During tax season, we wanted to publish some blogs from other sites, and from our archives that our clients may find useful. We’re heads down on taxes, but wanted to keep the information flowing for you! This is a question we hear every once in awhile – “Do I sell one property to pay off […]

From the Archives: Do Real Estate Investors Need a Family Trust?

Posted on: April 10th, 2014 by Real Estate Accountants

During tax season, we wanted to publish some blogs from other sites, and from our archives that our clients may find useful. We’re heads down on taxes, but wanted to keep the information flowing for you! We often get questions regarding family trusts and their usefulness for our clients, and wanted to pass along an […]

From the archives: 5 tips to reduce taxes for the new year

Posted on: April 3rd, 2014 by Real Estate Accountants

During tax season, we wanted to publish some blogs from other sites, and from our archives that our clients may find useful. We’re heads down on taxes, but wanted to keep the information flowing for you! Although it’s April, these tax saving tips apply all year round. It’s not too late to get started! George Dube […]

From the Archives: Tax Time & Joint Ventures: Landmines to Avoid

Posted on: March 28th, 2014 by Real Estate Accountants

During tax season, we wanted to publish some blogs from other sites, and from our archives that our clients may find useful. We’re heads down on taxes, but wanted to keep the information flowing for you! George Dube was featured on The Real Estate Insider blog for REIN at tax time last year and we […]

Q&A: How do we report joint venture activities?

Posted on: March 20th, 2014 by Real Estate Accountants 2 Comments

Q: I have a property that is owned with a JV partner. She put in the 20% down payment and qualified for the mortgage, and I run the investment. We then split everything 50/50 moving forwards. My partner holds her side of the partnership in a corporation, and I have my own corporation holding my interests. […]

Annual CRA letter campaign – fishing for business and rental losses or employment expenses

Posted on: March 5th, 2014 by Real Estate Accountants 1 Comment

For the fifth year in a row, the CRA is conducting what it calls a “letter campaign”. We often refer to it with our clients as a “fishing” expedition. At the beginning of the year, the CRA sends about about 33,000 letters to randomly selected taxpayers who claim business or rental losses or are employees […]