Carol Bezaire, vice-president of tax and estate planning at Mackenzie Investments

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REVIEWING YOUR TAX STRATEGY

Now that everyone is completing their 2017 income tax returns, this is a good time to review tax strategies. Many Canadians pay more than they should because they don’t take advantage of all the available tax credits and deductions or simply don’t plan ahead to be tax-efficient. For example, investing in foreign stocks and not being able to claim the foreign tax credit, or not planning to minimize taxes on changing circumstances such as divorce, severance or pension planning. Something as simple as strategically using your RRSP deduction or, especially, income-splitting where possible can lower taxes.

REPORTING THE DISPOSITION OF A PROPERTY

There’s a lot of press around real estate — people are making some pretty big returns. The CRA started to require reporting of the disposition of a property in 2016 on the T2091 and may be requesting further information to determine the nature of the transaction for tax purposes. Was this a principal residence, an investment property, or a business transaction? Also, is there an opportunity to use the capital gains reserve when you sell to reduce your taxes?

PROVINCIAL BUDGETS AND YOUR TAXES

As provincial budgets are coming out, we’re not seeing much tax relief in the way of a reduction in personal tax. Ontario is eliminating the surtax which will provide some relief, but with tax rates as high as 54 per cent on a combined federal and provincial top rate, the importance of advice and planning can’t be emphasized enough.