Updates

Let me start by saying thank you for all the kind words on becoming a grandfather. I appreciate all the email messages. On another non-legal note, I am simply reminding you today is Be Kind To Your Lawyer Day. Yes, this is real, at least since 2008! No need to send a gift! Regular...

No legal update or content here – this is simply telling the world I am a Nonno (grandfather for you Non-Italians)! My son James (a senior lawyer at Spagnuolo LLP) and his wife had a son, named Gio, on March 14. Weighing 6 lbs and 3 oz, he is already changing my life.  The next stage of life...

We all know how heavily taxed regular citizens are.  Whether it be income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, flipping taxes, you name it.  To add to this, there is one additional tax measure that may be coming to the British Columbia market - the expansion of the Property Transfer Tax to...

Gifts, Loans and other musings Good morning! It’s no surprise to readers of this newsletter that real estate (and life!) is expensive.  It’s hard if not impossible for young adults to enter the real estate market without help.  The Bank of Mom and Dad is one way that young adults have...

So this scenario came across my desk last week.  A realtor called about a listing he had where the seller was an elderly person, and her affairs were handled by her daughter who had a Power of Attorney.  The realtor called to ask what would happen if the seller were to pass. By the time we...

I think the federal government is reading our emails! A day after we emailed about the mess with capital gains, the government announced they are deferring the date on which the capital gains inclusion rate would increase from one-half to two-thirds on certain capital gains.  The old effective...

Capital Gains - What a Mess It seems our latest emails are about taxes - and we are not accountants. The capital gains tax is a mess!  Sometime last spring the federal liberal government proposed to raise the portion of capital gains on which companies pay tax to two-thirds from one-half. ...

Happy New Year - and another tax First off - Happy New Year. I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and 2025 is starting off great for you. Now for some bad news - as of January 1, 2025, the BC Home Flipping Tax has taken effect. If you are selling property after this date and have owned...

Holiday Wishes from Spagnuolo LLP For years I have been writing to Santa and even though I always received the correct Christmas present, I was never quite sure Santa read my letter. Well that has all changed.  This year Santa not only read my letter, he sent me a video showing that he...

Judy Wong joins Spagnuolo LLP I am happy to announce that Judy Wong has joined Spagnuolo LLP. Judy has been practicing law in the Tri-Cities since the 1990's, and her areas of practice include a full range of solicitor services, including business law, commercial financing, corporate...