Link

Random: I must confess I haven’t heard about SSO before. I stick to plan vanilla ETFs.

if that happens, crystalize the $5,000 you are down by selling or switching out of the fund to a similar fund (you can’t buy it back for 30days, so if you pick one that is close but not identiacal you’ll be hedged against the fund moving back up in the 30 days.

The $3K capital gain slip raises your adjusted cost base by that amount – now your loss after crystalization is $8K (the $5K you are down plus the $3K distribution from the slip.

When doing your 2008 return – assuming you have NET losses after mixing all your gains and losses in 2008 , you file form T1A request for loss carry back ( the 2007 one can be found here http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/t1a/t1a-07e.pdf )

Fill out section three of this T1A form and you can easily get the tax back from 2007.

So many people bitch about taxes and this is understandable. But a few simple strategies like this one and an awareness of the rules will improve your tax eficiency considerably. BTW – This strategy applies equally well to ETFs, stocks, and funds.

Great site BTW.