Gifting money for property purchase

[FelixTolstoi]

Hello,

I am not sure if the question has been discussed here before, but i could not find an answer.

I will be landing as a PR sometime in Feb, 2019 and would like to purchase a condo upon then (Finally no 15% property purchase tax as a non-pr). The money will be coming from my parents (around $500K USD) who are not Canadian residents. From what i understand, they can gift me the money and it wont be taxable.

What is the best way to move such a large amount?

I was planning to do the following:
1. Fly one of my parents here and open a bank account.
2. Transfer the money from their business account back home to the personal account here as a dividend payment.
3. Since they are not tax-residents in Canada, the taxes on the dividends to be paid in the home country.
4. Once the transfer settles to their Cad account, transfer it to my personal account and complete the purchase.

Questions,
1. Can money go on hold as a suspicious transaction even if i warn the bank in a advance and explain the purpose and the origin of the transfer?
2. After reading the forum, the bank MUST report such huge transfer to some financial regulator (CRA?).
3. What questions should I or my parents expect from either the bank or CRA future?
4. What are other complications we can face?
5. Is it easier to bring cash and declare it at the customs?

Sincerely,
Felix

 

[steaky]

I was planning to do the following:
1. Fly one of my parents here and open a bank account.
2. Transfer the money from their business account back home to the personal account here as a dividend payment.
3. Since they are not tax-residents in Canada, the taxes on the dividends to be paid in the home country.
4. Once the transfer settles to their Cad account, transfer it to my personal account and complete the purchase.

Instead of one of them coming here to open a bank account, blah...blah...blah, couldn't you:
1) go back to your country and open a bank account? And then wire transfer to your bank in Canada?
2) Since the money will ultimately go to a real estate agent (for making initial deposits for an existing home) or developer's lawyer via a sales office (if you are buying a pre-built or brand new home) or trust account of your designated lawyer to complete the purchase, couldn't you tell your parents to arrange a bank draft for those parties?

 

[FelixTolstoi]

Instead of one of them coming here to open a bank account, blah...blah...blah, couldn't you:
1) go back to your country and open a bank account? And then wire transfer to your bank in Canada?
2) Since the money will ultimately go to a real estate agent (for making initial deposits for an existing home) or developer's lawyer via a sales office (if you are buying a pre-built or brand new home) or trust account of your designated lawyer to complete the purchase, couldn't you tell your parents to arrange a bank draft for those parties?

Thanks Steaky,

I was told by a real estate agent, that the money should be wired to the trust account from ME personally hence the headache... Can anyone confirm this?

Best,
F

 

[steaky]

Thanks Steaky,

I was told by a real estate agent, that the money should be wired to the trust account from ME personally hence the headache... Can anyone confirm this?

Best,
F

Contact a lawyer first.

 

[mad_hatter]

Since you are a new immigrant, you can bring assets into Canada without any tax consequence. After you arrived in Canada, open a US dollar bank account and then have your parents wire the money into it.

 

[FelixTolstoi]

That is the plan so far, transfer the money in my account directly.
Any idea what documents do I need to provide to the bank for the transfer to settle?

Sincerely,
F.

 

[mad_hatter]

The person sending the fund should provide to their financial institution with your name, your bank's branch transit number, your account number and you bank's Swift Code.

 

[Alex54321]

The person sending the fund should provide to their financial institution with your name, your bank's branch transit number, your account number and you bank's Swift Code.

Right, ask your Canadian bank about their rules / attributes / fees for a incoming wire transfer.

I did a wire transfer last summer from my US Chase bank to my TD Canada Trust US checking account. After that transferred money using third party from Can US account to Can CAD account to buy a property.

If I were you I would worry more about US/Canadian exchange rate you would pay and thousands you would loose if you just allow to do exchange by your local Canadian bank.