Dividend Sprinkling Shares

My neighbor tells me that he pays his adult children out of his business corporation to fund their costs and expenses while they attend university, and saves a lot on tax compared to what he would pay if he personally funded their expenses. How do I set up my business corporation to do this?

Dividend Sprinkling Shares

The strategy used by your neighbor likely involves the issue of “dividend sprinkling” shares to his children. It works only with payments made to children over the age of 18 years. In essence, the strategy works to shift income from the high-tax rate paying parent, to the low-tax rate paying child. In many situations the entire dividend is received by the child free from additional tax. The strategy also works between spouses, shifting income from the high tax rate paying spouse to the lower tax rate paying spouse.

The attributes of “dividend sprinkling” shares typically include: a discretionary dividend right (meaning that you determine in any year the amount, if any, of the dividend paid); the right to redemption by the corporation for a fixed amount – often $10 (meaning that if you no longer wish to have the child own shares, the corporation has the legal right to cancel them for a nominal payment); and are non-voting (meaning you are not giving your child a say in the operation of your business). When shares are issued by an existing corporation, it is advisable that a share freeze be completed prior to their issuance. The “share freeze” is a technique which locks in the current value of a corporation to the existing shareholders with dividends being paid out of increases in value or income of the corporation.

There are significant tax and legal complexities and traps associated with setting up and using a dividend sprinkling share structure - including the risk if not properly structured and implemented that amounts paid on the dividend sprinkling shares will be attributed to someone other than the child. Legal and accounting advice should be obtained.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should a lawyer review your small business contracts?

I run a small business and I have several small contracts that I am currently in the process of negotiating. Are these worth bringing to a Lawyer for review?

‍Depending on the type of contract, there are a number of areas a Lawyer’s expertise can provide guidance, including contracts relating to employment or contractor relationships, borrowing and secured transactions, equipment leases, and other commercial agreements. Simply because a document is short, this does not mean there aren’t important clauses or terms that require careful consideration.

Contracts often contain important clauses relating to the limitation of liability, indemnification, and the waiver of important legal rights. Such clauses can have legal and financial implications for you or your business down the road. Understanding these implications is crucial and one of the services a Lawyer can provide.

A Lawyer can meet with you for a short consultation in order to review your contractual document and answer any questions you might have. By communicating to the Lawyer your expectations of the proposed contract, a Lawyer can work with you to achieve your goals as well as highlight and help you understand risks and liabilities that you or your business may be taking on as part of the contract.

If you have some questions about a contract and feel you may benefit from meeting with a Lawyer call and ask to set up a meeting.

Should you buy a business as an asset purchase?

I am negotiating to purchase a business and my business advisor has strongly suggested I structure the deal as an “asset purchase”. Why is this preferable?

‍There are two principal ways to structure the agreement of purchase and sale of a business: as an asset purchase or as a share purchase. An asset purchase is just that, a purchase of listed assets without taking on liabilities of the business. A share purchase, by contrast, is the purchase of the shares of the corporation that carries on the business and owns the assets. There are a number of considerations as to which form of purchase is preferable. In this article, we want to focus on why your advisor has strongly recommended an asset purchase.

‍Liability

‍A properly structured asset purchase agreement will allow you to purchase all of the desirable assets of the business you wish to acquire while leaving out the unwanted liabilities.

Your advisor has likely identified the business as one either by its nature or by the disclosure you’ve obtained in which there are significant potential liabilities that may be avoided through an asset purchase agreement. For example, if the owner of the business has been pocketing cash payments or using corporate assets for personal use, the business may be exposed to re-assessments and penalties by the Canada Revenue Agency. A purchase of shares would mean that you, through the purchased corporation, are exposed to those claims.

‍Exceptions

‍There are some exceptions to the avoidance of liability by an asset purchase. For instance, if the purchased business employed unionized labour, a collective agreement and any ongoing liabilities thereunder will follow the purchased business, even if structured as an asset purchase. Your legal counsel can assist you to identify and understand the relevant risks and how to avoid them where possible or otherwise obtain protection.

How do partnerships work and how are they setup?

My friend and I have an idea for a business and we are considering forming a partnership. How does a partnership work and how should one be setup?

Whether or not a partnership exists is a fundamentally a legal question. Ontario’s Partnerships Act says that a relationship between “persons carrying on a business in common with a view to profit” is a partnership within the meaning of the Act. This is important because it means that whether or not you declare yourself to be a partnership, legally speaking, you might be a partnership anyways, whether you intended to or not.

A partnership can exist between you and your friend personally, or even as between two corporations controlled by each of you. Unlike a corporation, however, a partnership has no separate legal existence from the partners themselves and each partner has the power to bind the partnership and each partner is jointly liable for any obligations incurred on behalf of the firm. This is why, when deciding to form a partnership, a partnership agreement can be very practical.

A partnership agreement sets out the rights and obligations for partners in the partnership and provides for what should happen in circumstances of partnership incapacity, retirement or death. Without one, the Partnerships Act will provide for what happens to the partnership in these circumstances, often with unintended results. A partnership agreement can also provide mechanisms for the distribution of partnership income and a process for bringing additional persons into the partnership. Creating a partnership agreement that meets your goals with the help of a commercial Lawyer ensures that your partnership will continue in a manner of your design.