Shares of Privately Held companies in TFSA

[Vanish3d]

Any one have experience of putting shares of privately held companies into your TFSA accounts? if so, which bank/brokerage?
these would be shares you already own. I am not asking about using TFSA funds to buy privately held company shares.

[killramos]

Wouldn’t this effectively trigger a “sale” for tax purposes and a new “buy” in the TFSA.

Considering market value is difficult to determine to illiquidity I can’t imagine this is allowed as it would be too easy to manipulate for tax purposes.

[Vanish3d]

^
for discussion purpose, let's assume you buy the shares today and put them in the TFSA today, so your profit/loss is 0
Holding privately held company shares is allowed with certain brokers, and has some conditions for the company.

[killramos]

TFSA requires shares to be a qualified investment.

Qualified investment
An investment in properties, including money, guaranteed investment certificates, government and corporate bonds, mutual funds, and securities listed on a designated stock exchange. The types of investments that qualify for TFSAs are generally similar to those that qualify for registered retirement savings plans.

Your private co shares are probably not a qualified investment since they probably aren’t traded on a designated exchange.

Just my thought, and the sell-rebuy scenario I mentioned before still applies. If you think they are eligible I would maybe chat with whatever broker/service you current record the share ownership with.

[sabad66]

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^
for discussion purpose, let's assume you buy the shares today and put them in the TFSA today, so your profit/loss is 0
Holding privately held company shares is allowed with certain brokers, and has some conditions for the company.

I don't see how this would be any different between private companies or public companies. Either way if the shares were not already held in the TFSA, it would be a buy/sell... you can't "transfer" between registered TFSA and non-registered accounts. Only TFSA<->TFSA (both owned by you)

[suntan]

Arm's length only. So no, you can't do this.

[Chandler_Racing]

Why would you want to move shares into a TSFA when there is a lifetime capital gains exemption of $850,000 for qualifying small business shares?

Use the TSFA account for high risk/reward returns in the markets.

[TomcoPDR]

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Why would you want to move shares into a TSFA when there is a lifetime capital gains exemption of $850,000 for qualifying small business shares?

Use the TSFA account for high risk/reward returns in the markets.

+1

Interested to get 110% firmation from credible beyond accountant. Yeah never thought privately held shares qualify for TFSA nor any registered accoints

[Xtrema]

http://www.lwlaw.com/why-you-shouldn...-tfsa-or-rrsp/

File this under even if you can, you shouldn't.

[AndrewMZ3]

You will need a tax opinion from a lawyer, but Olympia Trust should be able to set it all up

[Chandler_Racing]

^I'm a CA, CPA but wouldn't put credible in front of my tax knowledge anymore. With that said, this one seems pretty basic.

He does not want an accountant if it is remotely complex - it would require a tax specialist.

[Xtrema]

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You will need a tax opinion from a lawyer, but Olympia Trust should be able to set it all up

Definitely check with a lawyer/tax specialist. Just because Olympia Trust can/will set it up, doesn't mean it's legal.

[tenth]

When the TFSA details first came out, all the accounting firms were scrambling to develop plans to load up their private clients with debt to reduce the value of the business to less than $5k (per shareholder) to shove them into a TFSA. That loophole was shut down extremely quickly. Killramos has it right above.