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Stocks, Bonds etc. -> Investing Tax Issues -> Income trustsTax treatment of income from investments in income trustsThe following information is regarding investments which are held outside of RRSPs or other registered accounts. Cash distributions from income trusts can be made up of:
The tax treatment of cash distributions are reported to unitholders on T3 slips, which must be mailed by March 31 each year. The percentages allocated to each type of income may vary over time. The history of taxable distributions can usually be found on the website of an income trust. New tax rules: On October 31, 2006 the federal government announced new rules for the taxation of "specified investment flow-throughs", or SIFTs. SIFTs will generally include publicly-traded income trusts, as well as publicly traded partnerships holding significant investments in Canadian properties. These changes will apply in the 2007 tax year for income trusts that begin trading publicly after October 2006, but will not apply until 2011 for income trusts that were traded publicly prior to November 2006. Under old rules, when calculating taxable income, income trusts could deduct the income and capital gains paid to unitholders. Any remaining taxable income was taxed at the highest personal tax rate of 29%, plus applicable provincial taxes. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Under the new rules, SIFT trusts will not be able to deduct most of these amounts (non-portfolio earnings). However, the tax rate that is applied to the "distributed non-portfolio earnings of a SIFT trust" will be reduced to a rate equivalent to the corporate tax rate (21% in 2007), plus 13% for provincial taxes. The distributed non-portfolio earnings of the SIFT trust will be taxed in the hands of investors as Canadian dividends eligible for the enhanced dividend tax credit. Undistributed taxable income of a SIFT trust will still be taxed at the old rates. Return of capital (ROC) treatment will not change - distributions of ROC are not deductible to the trust, and not taxable when received by investors. The ROC amounts reduce the cost basis of the investor's holdings of the trust. |
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Tax tip: Whether to hold income trusts inside or outside a registered account depends on the make-up of the cash distributions. If they are mostly interest, they should be inside a registered account. If they are mostly Canadian dividends, capital gains, or return of capital, they should be outside. We do not recommend income trusts for the novice investor, because:
Revised: December 27, 2011
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