# Tax slips for investment trusts?



## tendim (Nov 18, 2010)

Hi there.

I've been using Questrade, and they recently sent me my T5 slip. However, on the T5 slip it only has dividends for taxable corporations: MFC and YLO (which converted to a dividend paying structure in December, so their December 2010 "distribution" counts as a dividend).

However, I also own XIC, XRE, XBB, AX.UN and YLO.UN (pre-December 2010). Is it normal for a broker not to issue slips for those companies -- I thought this would be part of the T3? If so, do I simply sum up my trust income from my monthly statements? Is income from an income trust considered "interest income" And what about ETFs? Are they considered a type of income trust?

Thanks for any input.
-10d


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## iherald (Apr 18, 2009)

tendim said:


> Hi there.
> 
> I've been using Questrade, and they recently sent me my T5 slip. However, on the T5 slip it only has dividends for taxable corporations: MFC and YLO (which converted to a dividend paying structure in December, so their December 2010 "distribution" counts as a dividend).
> 
> ...


I got some forms a few weeks ago, more forms yesterday. These companies aren't always quick with what you need to do your taxes.


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## whitby (Nov 17, 2010)

T3s do not have to be issued until March 31.


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## warp (Sep 4, 2010)

Just wait,,they will come.

2 years ago, I got 28 tax slips ...( I had accounts at different brokerages.)

Now that was a pain in the *ss !!


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

Does Questrade mail them out? I thought you had to print them off the account management service.

Claymore still hasn't published tax info yet, so I'm not surprised Questrade hasn't put anything out for these ETFs, at least/


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## tendim (Nov 18, 2010)

andrewf said:


> Does Questrade mail them out? I thought you had to print them off the account management service.
> 
> Claymore still hasn't published tax info yet, so I'm not surprised Questrade hasn't put anything out for these ETFs, at least/


I wasn't aware that the T3 deadline was March 31st, so I guess I'll have to wait for my refund.  But I did ask Questrade, and they told me that they will be mailed out in early April. They will also be available online.


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## Moneybags (Jun 9, 2011)

*YLO T5 Is it Interest or Dividend ?*

Just curious on the new YLO structure, does it show as box 13 interest on the T5 or as dividends which qualify for the div. tax credit?

Thanks


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

tendim said:


> Hi there.
> 
> I've been using Questrade, and they recently sent me my T5 slip. However, on the T5 slip it only has dividends for taxable corporations: MFC and YLO (which converted to a dividend paying structure in December, so their December 2010 "distribution" counts as a dividend).
> 
> ...


Yes - the broker should be providing slips but there can be several sets of slips. In my case, over the years the regular dividend paying companies are the earliest (first set of slips). The funds (i.e. ETF, index or Mutual) are slower (the second set of slips). The trust units are the slowest (the third set of slips).

Since I added trust units - most years the final tax forms are at the broker anywhere from April 1st to the 20th. 

What I did to speed this up was signup for the web access - that way I don't have to wait for how ever long Canada Post takes to deliver the paper copy - plus I know about updates via email quickly.


As for summing up the trust or fund distributions paid - this is likely not a good idea as there are several considerations.

First - I say distributions as it can be any combination of many types of payments. Some typical types are income, interest, dividends, foreign income, return of capital (RoC) etc. Each type may/may not have different tax treatments. 

Some examples are below.

Income/interest are reported as income.

Dividends for eligible Canadian companies qualify for the dividend tax credit while the rest don't. Here is a link that might help:
http://www.taxtips.ca/divtaxcredits.htm 

RoC payments reduce the Adjusted Cost Basis - the treatment depends on the re-calculated ACB. If it is positive, the change in ACB is the only event. If it is zero or negative, the RoC portion is reported as capital gain in the year it was paid.

Note that this is not an exhaustive list but a sample to let you know some of the range.


Secondly - the amounts can vary year to year. Here is a sample from the Calloway REIT where for each year the amounts are varying: http://www.callowayreit.com/Investor-Relations/Taxation/


The bottom line is that if you don't want to wait for the forms, the best that can be done is to look at previous year's allocations, make an assumption and report the different types appropriately. Once the forms are in and the trust has updated it's web site - you can check to see if the actual amounts change anything - which would require changing the tax return filed.


As to


> Is income from an income trust considered "interest income"


, I hope it is clear that the payments paid through the year are "interest income" only if the trust reports them that way. What is reported on by the broker and added to the account is the distribution payment - which can have many parts.


As for ETFs - they are a flavour of mutual fund.
http://ca.ishares.com/understand_etf/fundamental/what_is_etf.htm

However - like the trust unit and mutual fund, there can be a mix of where the distribution money came from.
If you scroll down to the Annual Distributions for the XIC ETF, you'll see the different types by year:
http://ca.ishares.com/product_info/fund/distributions/XIC.htm


Cheers


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