ARTICLE · 28 MAY 2015

Family Trust Trials And Tribulations

Minden Gross LLP

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Every so often, the Canada Revenue Agency targets certain tax structures for special attention, so I thought a refresher on the do's and don'ts of administering family trusts might be in order.

CanadaTax

Samantha Prasad

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Previously published in The Fund Library

Every so often, the Canada Revenue Agency targets certain tax structures for special attention. A few years ago it was family discretionary trusts that were subject to special audits. While that cycle has passed – for now – it doesn't mean those with family trusts should let their guard down when dealing with your trust's compliance each year. So I thought a refresher on the do's and don'ts of administering family trusts might be in order.

To start with, here's a summary of some of the items that the CRA has focused on over the years in relation to discretionary trusts:

The trustee's qualification, expertise, and experience.
The amount of fees received by the trustee, if any.

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