Capital Gains and the May 1985 Federal Budget

Aluin Gilchrist is a Vancouver-based Canadian government civil
litigation lawyer.

Advice seldom comes cheaply from a partner of the respected firm of Coopers & Lybrand, Chartered Accountants. But this booklet is packed with notes about potential tax problems. Introducing the 23 brief pages of exposition and commentary on the 21 resolutions of the Budget, Mida says that the complexity of the Income Tax Act will be increased by the new, broad, lifetime, capital gains tax exemption. Repeal of the capital gains rules would have been simpler.

CCH are to be congratulated on the speed with which they published this guide. For example, Mida says one should consider acting before 1986 to realise losses from shares or debt of a Canadian-controlled private corporation that does not qualify as a small business corporation.

Even if it is not taxable, every Canadian resident must now file if a capital gain or loss was realised in the year. Pre-1985 capital losses must be accounted separately and claimed first.