Читать книгу Kickstart Your Corporation - Andrew Feindel - Страница 19

An individual can simply sell an existing rental property to their corporation in exchange for assets or debt, but the sale would trigger any unrealized capital gains, as well as a possible recapture of any capital cost allowance previously claimed on the rental property in the hands of the individual.

An individual may also transfer personally held assets to a corporation on a tax-deferred basis by taking back shares (and possibly debt) of the corporation in exchange for the property. The value of the shares received would reflect the value of the property transferred to the corporation. Then, when the property is eventually sold by the corporation, any accrued capital gains would be taxable to the corporation and distributed to the shareholder, likely in the form of dividends.

There are other factors that would need to be considered as well before assets are transferred to the corporation. For example, in the case of real estate, you would be required to pay a land transfer tax if the property is not used for the active business of the corporation. While I have seen some lawyers work around these issues using a trust structure, it's best to assume these taxes are to be paid. It is also important to determine whether the goods and services or harmonized sales tax (GST or HST) applies.

It should be noted that some real estate transactions do avoid land transfer taxes. These include gifts for no consideration (including no assumption of a mortgage). Although the tax is triggered and a tax return should be filed, as the tax is based on the consideration, the actual amount of the tax will be nil (as the consideration is also nil).