Riddle for the Castanauts.

[Bsuds]

I know you can do a certain amount of income sharing but not sure exactly how it works or how much. (an accountant does ours)

[Glacier]

Does it have to do with who claims the dependent children?

Nope, the only difference is who claims the income.

I know you can do a certain amount of income sharing but not sure exactly how it works or how much. (an accountant does ours)

Some kinds of income can be shared. In my case it supposed to be divided up based upon how much each partner contributed. But working on the premise that "If what is mine is yours and what's yours is mine" makes it a bit tricky to figure out how much each person contributed. Thus, there is a lot of leeway as to who can claim what.

So let's assume either partner can claim some or all of the income in question. Why (or when) is it tax advantageous for the higher income earner to claim all of the "joint income"?

[kgcayenne]

When the expenses relating to earning that income are significant?
When CPP premiums are at the max?

[Captain Awesome]

To maximize contribution to RRSP?

[Glacier]

When the expenses relating to earning that income are significant?

You are getting closer. There was less than a $50 expense related to the earnings. The key is, why type of income is not taxed in the normal way?

I knew this income would be taxed differently, but until this week I didn't understand exactly how it worked.

No, CA, it has nothing to do with RRSPs. I don't believe in RRSPs.

[grammafreddy]

Is it rental income?

[Captain Awesome]

Dividend tax credit?

[Glacier]

Correct!

With $1500 in dividend earnings, you have to claim $2000-ish for income, and then make up for it by claiming a tax credit for $350-ish against your taxes owed. In the end, the tax credit doesn't really do much good if you don't have enough income to fully utilize the tax credit. When the high income earner makes the claim, there are no wasted tax credits, so even with a higher marginal tax we are better off with me claiming the income. The tax difference is about $200.

[Glacier]

Bsuds, dogspoiler, and Bman were having a few beers when Bman says, "wanna go out for a rip?"

Dogspoiler says, "just out for a rip are we bud?"

Bsuds replies, "@#$! ya!"

After finishing off the cooler of beer, the bottle of scotch, and the two bottles of tequila, they head out for a road trip. They wake up a day or two later on the side of an unknown highway. Bsuds is in the best shape of the three so he starts up the truck and heads on down the road. 10 minutes later they see a "Welcome the British Columbia" sign.

"Wow, we WERE out for a rip!" says Bsuds, "all we have to do is figure out which highway we are on, and then we can get our bearings straight."

They stop their car, and flag down a passing motorist to ask which highway they are on. They are told that they are heading west on highway 1.

"I've got a pounding headache," exclaims dogspoiler, "so let's just drive down to the ocean and wash our faces with salt water. I read on Castanet once that it helps. I think it was Kompili who offered the sage advice. Bman, you drive."

Bman gets behind the wheel, and heads west. He also has a pounding headache to the point that he ignores all the road signs through half squinted eyes, and drives for about 750 km before being stopped by the USA border patrol.

Bman pipes up, "Hey young whippersnapper, who do you think you are pulling us over so near the ocean?"

"Sir," the border officer says, "you are 300 miles from the nearest ocean. Now turn around and get lost."


Question: Where did the three amigos start their sober trek, and where did they end it 750 km later?

[Bsuds]

We started out at Lake Louise and ended up at Danville Wa border crossing.

[GordonH]

deleted

[Glacier]

We started out at Lake Louise and ended up at Danville Wa border crossing.

Nope. Way off. You followed highway 1 the entire time. Here is the picture you guys took at the BC border:

[Glacier]

Is everyone stumped? Pull out your trusty map, and see which highways enter BC where. The above picture was taken by yours truly less than 10 km from the Continental Divide.

[Lady tehMa]

so - Yukon BC border? Headed to Alaska?

[Glacier]

Ding, ding, we have a winner. Yukon highway 1 dips down in to BC at Swift River, and then goes back into the Yukon 65 km later where it stays there until it turns into Alaska highway 2 at the border. Yes there really are two highway 1s in BC.