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Direct From Drache: Legal Insights - Jan 31, 2006

   Tory Tax Plans - The Promises and the Reality
   Oh Brave New World– The World of the New Dividend Tax Credits
   Distributions Under Infant Trusts
   Mortgage Fraud - Are you at risk?
   Protection of Mentally Incapable Adults
   Don't Get Burned by your Appliances
   Changes to Charity Rules

Tory Tax Plans - The Promises and the Reality - Arthur Drache
With the Conservatives in the process of forming a government, it is worth taking a look at the main Conservative tax promises, not so much from the perspective of their wisdom (they obviously helped the Conservatives to power) but for the potential problems of implementation. The very nature of the soft minority the Tories have may temper implementation. For example, the GST cut was attacked by all the other parties (not to mention most economists) and it may well be that this idea will be “deferred” unless a deal can be cut with the opposition.
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Oh Brave New World– The World of the New Dividend Tax Credits - Charles Rotenberg
The times they are a’changin. Everything we always took for granted in shareholder compensation no longer applies. On November 23rd, 2005, Finance Minister Ralph Goodale tabled a proposal to level the playing field as between public company investments and income trust investments. It is anticipated that the new Conservative government will re-introduce these rules in more or less the same form. The proposal involved increasing the dividend gross up and tax credit in respect of dividends received from public companies and certain private companies from the current 25% gross up to a 45% gross up. This will have the overall effect of lowering the tax payable in respect of these dividends. As a side note, however, many seniors will find that, although their tax liability will go down, their income will go up, resulting in a clawback of their OAS.
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Distributions Under Infant Trusts - Douglas Buchmayer
Most trust documents contain two types of dispositive powers; maintenance and advancement. Express powers of maintenance are typically given to trustees whenever an interest is being held for a minor so that the trustees have authority to use the income for the beneficiary.
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Mortgage Fraud - Are you at risk? - Chad Boyd
How does mortgage fraud work? Are you at risk? In a recent Maclean’s magazine article by Jay Somerset, entitled “Mortgage fraud is sweeping across Canada”, mortgage fraud was called “…a largely unknown, but fast growing crime … and now amounts to $1.5 billion a year”. This is in Canada alone, which makes this a simple staggering figure. There are a number of different scams that are used by fraudsters and new ones are always being discovered. The most common scam involves identification theft.
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Protection of Mentally Incapable Adults - Elizabeth Lockhart
The Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee ("PGT") is administered though the Ministry of the Attorney General’s Family Justice Services Division. The mandate of the Office is to ensure the provision of a range of services intended to protect the legal, personal and financial interests of private individuals and estates. The PGT is also responsible to oversee the activities of charities in the province. The PGT has over 300 staff and operates offices in 6 centers, including here in Ottawa. The staff of the PGT come from a wide range of backgrounds including health care, social work and financial planning. Support is provided to these individuals by accountants, lawyers and investigators.
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Don't Get Burned by your Appliances - Victor Au
So you’ve decided to buy or sell your home. What will you do with the appliances (i.e. stove, fridge)? Dealing with the appliances is often an afterthought for most people as it is a very small part of the overall transaction but in some instances the lack of thought to this issue will cause unwanted headaches after closing.
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Changes to Charity Rules - Adam Aptowitzer
The advent of 2006 will bring with it the fulfillment of several proposed changes that affect charities and which have been promised or in the planning stages for some time. Considering that the Charities Directorate is more determined and more capable than ever to be an effective enforcer of the law it is important for charities to have a basic idea of the changes in store for them. Here are the five changes charities should keep in mind as we begin the New Year.
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