Did you provide your employees with a Christmas party this year? In general, no taxable benefit will have to be reported for social events that are made available to all employees, provided the cost per employee is $100 or less...
Posted in category Succession Planning	
Some areas of importance that should be considered when selling your business are those involving the key employees and “non-key” employees that work for you in your business. Sometimes business owners only focus on the past financial profits when considering the sale of their business. They should always remember that a purchaser will look beyond the numbers and want to review who works for the business. Remember the purchaser will be inheriting most of the employees – good and bad…. Consider the following:
Are there any “problem employees” that a purchaser will not wish to hire?
Will some of the employees become redundant and need to be let go?
Are there key employees that a purchaser will be depending on after the sale takes place?
A private business owner needs to pre...
I came across this article on a lawyer’s website in BC that discusses shareholders’ agreements and the importance of having one – the link is http://www.magellanlaw.ca/article-shareholders-agreement/. It is a good read that summarizes what such an agreement consists of and why it is important.
I wholeheartedly agree that the time to put one in place is when the business begins and everyone is getting along. This is even true in situations where a private company is passing on ownership to the next generation and there are multiple shareholders of a company (where mom and dad used to be the only shareholders). A shareholders’ agreement should be reviewed and/or revised at the time a succession or estate plan is being worked on...
Every year it is important for small business owners to re-visit their remuneration strategy before the year starts (i.e. pre-planning for next year), during the year and prior to the end of the calendar year...
Posted in category Family Trust, Inheritance, Tax Planning	
Many Canadians families either currently own or are considering the purchase of a cottage property. Normally they would simply pay for the cottage and register the title in the purchasers’ individual names. In many areas, due to limited supply of waterfront property and increasing demand cottage properties can have significant increases in value over a number of years.
When the original purchasers pass away or want to transfer or gift the property to the next generation there is a significant capital gain on the transaction. In Canada, the capital gain also means a significant cheque payable to the Receiver General to pay the taxes on the disposition.
A flexible alternative to holding the cottage property title may be a Family Trust.
A trust can be a useful estate p...