Where do you keep your nest egg?

We have a considerable amount of assets tucked away in Canada and “wasâ€

One thing the CRA won't tell you, but if you buy a vacation home (and that's what it is, you don't rent it out) you don't have to declare it on T1164 every year so the CRA aren't aware of the asset until you come to sell it and have to pay capital gains tax.

I think the reason they don't care is because it will come up if you ever leave Canada permanently as it is subject to departure tax. But if you never plan to leave Canada permanently it's not a problem.

If you live in the US and a resident tax payer now you're probably way better off investing in US markets because Canadian capital gains tax is way higher than in the US.

Unless you can figure out a way to do it using an IRA or something so it's exempt from CGT.

The way I understand it, you pay tax in the country you reside in. If I was to sell stock while living in the US through my Canadian stock broker, Revenue Canada will take a withholding tax. By law, I have to report the sell as revenue in the US and will pay capital gains when I file my yearly tax return. Once proof of tax paid in the country you reside is submitted to revenue Canada, they release the withholding tax.

The one hurtle I know exists is it’s against the law for a US residence to receive stock purchase advise from anything but a US registered broker. Nothing stopping an individual from having a pleasant conversation with their foreign broker on what’s hot and what’s not. You can then call back and instruct your broker to buy or sell X.

Yeah I was getting confused because I'm in the reverse situation, I buy stuff in the US, there is no CGT for small gains in the US, so it's trivial but then I have to pay the Canadian CGT which is liable on any gain, which stinks.

But in any event it's always better to use a tax shelter obviously. Roll on TFSAs. Oooh I can invest up to $5,000 a year and not pay any CGT on the disposition. At the rate things are going that means I should be able to get a major investment bank in the US inside my TFSA.

To be honest thinking about it I'm a bit more worried about capital losses at the moment!