- Joined
- Sep 10, 2007
- Messages
- 72
Here`s my story of success regarding tax shelters and how REIN helped me avoid a potential mistake.
It was the weekend before the September REIN meeting in Calgary when I ended up at a "How to be a Success in Real Estate" event hosted by an organization that shall remain nameless but is pretty well known. I figure that these events are worth going to once and a while as they offer me a view of what non REIN members are doing in an effort to become successful and they are pretty good for networking. Of the many things they `presented` to the crowd, there was one on a REAL AND LEGAL Tax Shelter program that caught my eye.
The program was called `Canadian Organization for International Philanthropy` AKA: `Fight AIDS, Save Taxes`. The gist of it was that you pay $1400 as interest on a 3-year loan for AIDS drugs in Africa and then the loan is sold to another organization who has a tax ID number and issues you a tax deductible receipt of $3200. The whole thing was pretty complicated and has a few important names attached to it but in summary, you save a bunch of lives, feel good about yourself and pay less tax. Oh ya...you also get a letter from REVENUE CANADA warning you not to use tax shelters.
For a couple days, I toyed with the idea and as much as it didn`t feel right, parts of it did. I knew that I would have a pretty hefty tax bill at the end of the year and saving a few bucks while saving lives almost rung `win-win`. Perhaps I would just try 1 unit ($1400)...that wouldn`t be too greedy would it?
Well, come Tuesday`s night, I was happy to be back amongst the REINers. It was good to be in a better atmosphere, better attitudes and overall feeling of support and success. Take those feelings and add to the article that Don brought up in the What`s Behind the Curtain segment regarding tax shelter audits and you get some very important confirmations: I am a sophisticated investor. When with REIN, I believe in the people around me and the information presented to me. I am confident in the reasons why I joined REIN and more so of the reasons why I`m still in REIN. I don`t need my RevCanada file to be flagged as it will only bring me problems in the future. I am a successful investor and with that comes the appropriate taxes. I DO NOT NEED TO CHEAT THE SYSTEMS. I also remembered that "I AM HUMAN" and with that comes mistakes through misguidance or misinformation.
My overall lesson from this temptation: Use the REIN litmus test. Talk about it with other members, ask opinions and about experiences. If they can all be successful without it, do you really need it?
Thanks my fellow members!
Grant Adamson.
p.s. By the way, at that `other` real estate event, when everybody would ask me how I got to where I am today, I would tell them "The answer was simple: REIN"
It was the weekend before the September REIN meeting in Calgary when I ended up at a "How to be a Success in Real Estate" event hosted by an organization that shall remain nameless but is pretty well known. I figure that these events are worth going to once and a while as they offer me a view of what non REIN members are doing in an effort to become successful and they are pretty good for networking. Of the many things they `presented` to the crowd, there was one on a REAL AND LEGAL Tax Shelter program that caught my eye.
The program was called `Canadian Organization for International Philanthropy` AKA: `Fight AIDS, Save Taxes`. The gist of it was that you pay $1400 as interest on a 3-year loan for AIDS drugs in Africa and then the loan is sold to another organization who has a tax ID number and issues you a tax deductible receipt of $3200. The whole thing was pretty complicated and has a few important names attached to it but in summary, you save a bunch of lives, feel good about yourself and pay less tax. Oh ya...you also get a letter from REVENUE CANADA warning you not to use tax shelters.
For a couple days, I toyed with the idea and as much as it didn`t feel right, parts of it did. I knew that I would have a pretty hefty tax bill at the end of the year and saving a few bucks while saving lives almost rung `win-win`. Perhaps I would just try 1 unit ($1400)...that wouldn`t be too greedy would it?
Well, come Tuesday`s night, I was happy to be back amongst the REINers. It was good to be in a better atmosphere, better attitudes and overall feeling of support and success. Take those feelings and add to the article that Don brought up in the What`s Behind the Curtain segment regarding tax shelter audits and you get some very important confirmations: I am a sophisticated investor. When with REIN, I believe in the people around me and the information presented to me. I am confident in the reasons why I joined REIN and more so of the reasons why I`m still in REIN. I don`t need my RevCanada file to be flagged as it will only bring me problems in the future. I am a successful investor and with that comes the appropriate taxes. I DO NOT NEED TO CHEAT THE SYSTEMS. I also remembered that "I AM HUMAN" and with that comes mistakes through misguidance or misinformation.
My overall lesson from this temptation: Use the REIN litmus test. Talk about it with other members, ask opinions and about experiences. If they can all be successful without it, do you really need it?
Thanks my fellow members!
Grant Adamson.
p.s. By the way, at that `other` real estate event, when everybody would ask me how I got to where I am today, I would tell them "The answer was simple: REIN"