Canadian Snowbirds Buying U.S. Vacation Property

  • 10 janvier 2018
  • Brittany Sud

With the extreme cold temperatures we have been experiencing so far this winter, Canadians are thinking more and more about heading south to escape the winters of the Great White North.  There are various methods of acquiring a vacation property in the U.S. and things to keep in mind when doing so.

Canadian residents who are Non-Resident Aliens of the U.S. (individuals who are not U.S. citizens or residents, whose domicile is not in the U.S. and are not U.S. green card holders) (“CNRAs”) may be subject to U.S. estate tax on U.S.-situs property with a total value over $60,000US if the value of their worldwide estate is over certain limits.  Within the definition of U.S.-situs property falls U.S. real estate, including condominiums, co-operatives, and time shares.

Prior to 2005, it was a common strategy to hold a U.S. vacation property in a “single-use personal holding corporation” to avoid U.S. estate taxes and probate.  The Canada Revenue Agency had a lenient administrative policy with respect to the shareholder benefit rules that made this method of holding U.S. vacation property popular for Canadians.  As of January 1, 2005, the rules changed, making this strategy no longer optimal.

Common methods today include:

Sole Ownership: Personally owning U.S. vacation property may attract U.S. estate tax on death, unless the property passes to a U.S. citizen spouse, in which case a marital deduction exempts the CNRA from U.S. estate tax.  Under the Canada/U.S. Tax Treaty, if a CNRA leaves U.S. property to a CNRA surviving spouse on death, a marital credit is available, or if a CNRA provides for a Qualifying Domestic Trust (“QDOT”) in his/her Will for the benefit of his/her CNRA surviving spouse, the property may be “rolled over” to the QDOT to defer tax until the CNRA surviving spouse dies or disposes of the property.  Under Canadian income tax law, there will be a deferral of capital gains tax until the surviving spouse dies or disposes of the property.  There are also other credits that may be available to offset the U.S. estate tax which is paid.

Joint Tenancy with Right of Survivorship:  In order to be a true joint tenancy, both spouses have to jointly contribute to the purchase price of the property.  Otherwise, it could be deemed a gift from the contributing spouse to the non-contributing spouse and U.S. gift tax may apply.  If U.S.-situs property is owned as true joint tenants between CNRA spouses, the property will not be subject to the Will on the death of the first spouse, but will pass to the surviving spouse/owner by operation of law.  Under Canadian income tax law, there is a deferral of capital gains tax on the property until the second spouse/owner dies or disposes of the property.  However, the full value of the property will be subject to U.S. estate tax at the time of death of the first spouse and then again at the time of death of the second spouse/owner.

Non-Recourse Mortgage 

A non-recourse mortgage is an obligation that is enforceable only against the property pledged as security, and the owner of the property cannot be forced to pay the mortgage personally.  The value of a non-recourse mortgage may be deducted directly from the value of the U.S.-situs property to, in effect, minimize U.S. estate tax which may be payable.  U.S. estate tax is only paid on the equity in the property.  The mortgage must have commercial terms, so the mortgagor spouse must pay interest to the mortgagee spouse and the mortgagee spouse must report the interest as income on his/her income tax return.  This strategy does not protect future growth; if the property increases in value, the mortgage does not increase.

Canadian Trust

This is the most common method for CNRAs to purchase U.S. vacation property, primarily because the property will not be form part of the estate of the CNRA, or any of the beneficiaries of the trust, for U.S. estate tax purposes.  As well, probating the CNRA’s Will is unnecessary to deal with the property, and the trust structure offers creditor protection.

The rules for setting up a Canadian trust to hold U.S. vacation property are quite stringent so it is recommended to obtain legal advice before engaging in this type of planning.  Some of the requirements include the following: (a) the trust must be settled by one CNRA spouse; (b) the trust must acquire the property; (c) the other CNRA spouse should be the beneficiary and trustee; and (d) the settlor spouse cannot be a beneficiary or trustee.

The terms of the trust usually give the beneficiary spouse the right to use the property for his/her lifetime, and on his/her death, the alternate beneficiaries are the children.  The settlor spouse may use the property at the “sufferance” of the beneficiary spouse while the beneficiary spouse is alive.  However, if the beneficiary spouse predeceases the settlor spouse, the settlor spouse must pay fair market value rent to the trust if he/she wants to continue to use the property.

It is important to keep track of time as, under Canadian income tax law, there will be a deemed disposition of the property in the trust every 21 years and any gain on the property will be taxable at that time.

There are advantages and disadvantages of each method outlined above so Canadian snowbirds should speak to a solicitor about their particular circumstances before buying a U.S. vacation property.

 

About the author

Brittany Sud​, Associate, Fasken Martineau

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