Capital gains when selling property to family + MORE Mar 20th

Do I have to pay income tax if I inherited a property jointly with my sister and she bought me out for less than half the appraised value of the property?
—Johanna
Capital gains and transferring property between family
Asset sales between family members can be tricky to facilitate at a family level, let alone from a tax perspective. There are tax implications to be aware of here, Johanna.
First, a primer on how capital gains tax works. For real estate, it’s based on the sale price, minus the selling costs, capital improvements made to the property, and your adjusted cost base (ACB) or acquisition cost.
Also, it’s important to know that 50% of a capital gain is taxable and is added to your other sources of income for the tax year. A large capital gain—for example, on a piece of real estate—can easily push you into a higher tax bracket.
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What qualifies as a principal residence and other exemptions
There are nuances related to real estate like whether or not a property might qualify as a principal residence…

Canadians who are shopping for a mortgage are likely to already have some form of debt. In fact, between things like student loans, car loans, credit card bills and lines of credit, the average Canadian carries around $30,000 of non-mortgage debt, according to TransUnion. So you might be wondering: How does debt impact your mortgage application? Using debt responsibly helps build your credit history, making it easier for you to borrow from banks and other lenders. But could large amounts of debt prevent you from obtaining the mortgage you want?

Watch this video to understand how debt helps lenders determine your credit-worthiness, as well as how much you can afford on a mortgage, when reviewing your application.

Watch: MoneySense – Does debt impact your mortgage application

More on mortgages:

MoneySense Toolkit: The mortgage affordability calculatorWatch: What is mortgage affordability?Could a line of credit impact my mortgage application?

A guide to five-year fixed mortgage rates

A guide to five-year variable mortgage rates
The post Watch: Does debt impact your mortgage application? appeared first on MoneySense.

I’m turning 65 next month and I’m wondering if I should apply for my OAS this year? My wife retired at age 60 last year and has a full pension from her previous employer. I am still working full time and plan on working for another two years, I will also be receiving a full pension at retirement. Our combined gross income is $107,000 this year, our home is paid off and we have $500,000 in savings. Do you think it would be advantageous for me to start my OAS this year or should I defer collecting it till I retire? —Charles

How is OAS paid? Does it matter if you’re still working?

Old Age Security (OAS) pension is paid based on an applicant’s years of residency in Canada. If you have 40 years of Canadian residency since the age of 18, you will receive the full pension at age 65, which is $642 per month as of the first quarter of 2022 ($7,707 annualized). If you have less than 40 years of residency, you can still receive a prorated pension. 

You can start your OAS from the ages of 65 and 70…