Kuwait- Seminar highlights Canada tax, investment 

(MENAFN - Arab Times) The Canadian Commercial Circle (CCC), organized a presentation on Tax and Investment Planning for Canadian expatriates at the Marina Hotel, Tuesday evening and was sponsored by Gulf Bank.

The speakers included Ashley Meier from REDEV Properties, Wayne Bewick from Trowbridge Professional Corporation and Neil Korzack from RBA Dominion Securities Inc.

The presentation centered on the subject of Canadian residency for tax purposes and its implications for expatriates living and working in Kuwait, departure and repatriation tax issues and tax planning. Financial planning for non-resident Canadians was also addressed. The event was attended by 125 members and guests welcomed by Basil Toutoungi, President of the CCC and General Manager of Al Kout Industrial Projects Company, and the evening's proceedings were hosted by Robert Drolet, Senior Vice-President at Kuwait Projects Company and Vice President of the CCC.

Wayne Bewick, a Chartered Accountant, specializing in expatriate and international taxation, pointed out the most common mistakes that people make, "We mostly see people not filling out the tax return in the last year that they leave Canada, in informing the Canada Revenue Agency of their non-resident status and not filling out the proper non-resident forms when renting out properties in Canada."

He advised, "It is necessary to ensure that the residency is clear for tax purposes. This means severing residential ties and showing intent to leave Canada. It is also important to get good professional advice and make sure to stay on top of everything, like filing proper tax returns on the proper forms."

Most people face difficulties because of the lack of knowledge in the matter, "When you file a tax return every year in Canada, everyone knows how to do it. All of sudden when you leave Canada and file, there are all these special forms that no one is aware of because they have never seen or heard of them", he told the Arab Times.

Bewick commented that Canadian tax laws were more equitable, where the wealthy pay a higher percentage compared to the US, "In the US, you can write off mortgage interest and property taxes. In Canada, there are not as many deductions as in the US tax.

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Neil Korzack, a Certified Investment Manager stressed on the importance of having a financial plan in place for proper wealth management. It is at the core of exploring the issues, scenarios and options available.

In his presentation he mentioned that corporate profits in US companies have never been better even as the consumer has suffered. Sales in most multinational US and Canadian companies are being driven from their international operations and since the stock market gets paid essentially on earnings, they make for a good investment strategy.

Ashley Meier from REDEV Properties highlighted the commercial real estate investment opportunities on offer. He stated that it is not a get rich quick scheme but a safe and stable investment with limited risks, "We are dealing in western Canada where a lot of their gains are derived from oil and gas and natural resources it is in a good currency, the Canadian dollar. In our plaza there is a leverage of 50 percent.

This means that if we do take out a mortgage on it, more than 50 percent of the tenants would have to default on the mortgage at the same time for our tenants not to cover the rent. But even at that time we have reserve accounts in place to keep it close to the yield that we promise."

He also pointed out that commercial spaces were a safer bet than residential real estate, "If you look down in the US there have been about 4 million homes being repossessed in the last several years since the 2008 recession. In the commercial sphere, there's only a few hundred thousand. So, commercial realty feels the pinch a lot less."

In speaking of the event, Basil Toutoungi said, "Our aim was to introduce CCC members and their guests to the basics of financial planning and risk management, diversification and the various instruments that can be used to optimize the risk return profile of a portfolio. Tonight's presentations have certainly helped to achieve this and we thank Canadians in Kuwait, for their assistance in promoting this event amongst its members."

The Canadian Commercial Circle (CCC) is the business network for Canadians in Kuwait and catalyst for increased commercial relations between Canada and Kuwait. The CCC holds monthly events of interest to Canadian business people and others interested in Canada.