Sure News™
Shareholders Agreements - Part I
Nick Georgakopoulos
Insurance & Estate Planning
There is no such thing as a “simple” shareholders agreement. However, that does not mean that the agreement should be written in legalese or should be difficult for a business person to understand. What it means is that the issues and contingencies that need to be addressed in a shareholders’ agreement are complex. There is no way around that.
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Shareholders Agreements - Part II
Nick Georgakopoulos
Insurance & Estate Planning
***Part I of this article was featured in our July 2010 newsletter.***
Personal Commitment
- What are the shareholders expected to contribute, other than financing?
- Who is working in the business?
- On what basis?
- How are responsibilities being divided?
- How are shareholder salaries going to be set?
- What kind of special covenants will apply while you are a shareholder? E.g. noncompetition, company owns all inventions.
- What kind of special covenants will apply after you cease being a shareholder? E.g. non-solicitation, non-competition.
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Do You Have Your Will In Order?
Nick Georgakopoulos
Insurance & Estate Planning
January is a good a month as any of the other 11 months to sit back and put your affairs in order. It is a great time to pull your Will out of the safe and review it. For a majority of people it is time to create and prepare a Will or Wills if you own a corporation or assets in multiple jurisdictions.
It is essential that you have a Will that is fairly current!!
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CRA IS GOING AFTER THE WELL TO DO
Nick Georgakopoulos
Insurance & Estate Planning
A study commissioned by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the World Bank and the international Finance Corp this year ranked Canada 10th out of 183 in countries for its ease of paying taxes.
It seems that in all this excitement Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) missed this point when it decided to start examining high net-worth taxpayers with a program known as the "Related Party Initiative"(RPI).
CRA stated that “The main objective of the RPI is to identify and respond to high-risk compliance issues involving high-net-worth individuals and their related economic entities."
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Is your Family Trust Approaching its 21st Anniversary?
Nick Georgakolpoulos
Insurance & Estate Planning
Over the last few years not much, by way of literature, has been written about Family Trusts.
Family Trusts can be a great vehicle for tax and estate planning because if structured properly they can offer great flexibility, tax deferral, tax minimization and privacy.
Sound too good to be true?
Well, Yes and No!
As with all great planning strategies Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) made sure that a good thing does not last forever.
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Happy New Year!
Nick Georgakopoulos
Insurance & Estate Planning
Now that 2011 is behind us, it’s that time of year again to look at the personal and corporate tax rates across Canada to better prepare for 2012.
Undoubtedly, you have heard from your elected officials and trusted tax advisors that:
“The Canadian tax system is based on the principle of integration.”
The following should attract the same tax:
- income earned by a corporation and distributed to shareholders as dividends,
and
- Income Earned Directly
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PART 1 - Estate Planning Permanent Tax Deferral with Testamentary Trusts
Nick Georgakopoulos
Insurance & Estate Planning
A trust is a relationship among;
1) a settlor (or testator in the case of a trust contained in a Will) who sets up the trust;
2) one or more trustees who hold legal title to assets; and
3) one or more beneficiaries who are entitled to the benefit of assets. Unlike a corporation, a trust itself is not a legal entity. However, the Income Tax Act of Canada (the Act) treats a trust like an individual for income tax purposes.
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Part 2 - Estate Planning Permanent Tax Deferral with Testamentary Trusts
Nick Georgakopoulos
Insurance & Estate Planning
***See Part 1 to this article in April 2012’s newsletter
2. Testamentary Trust Wills
Wills can be drafted with multiple testamentary trusts (a separate testamentary trust created for every beneficiary) to achieve a significant degree of income splitting by multiplying the benefits of the graduated tax regime in respect of each and every beneficiary, whether an adult or minor. This strategy can significantly expand the low tax base accessible to a family.
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