Article content

We are all hearing the calls to tax the rich. The assumption being, if you are rich, you will pay a lot of tax, but is that always true?

Here is an example of a couple with a net-worth of $10 million who are set up to pay exactly $0 in tax in 2015.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or How a couple with a net worth of $10 million and annual income of $215,000 can pay $0 in income tax Back to video

Here is how they would do it.

Tom and Mary are a recently retired, 65-year-old couple, living in Vancouver. British Columbia isn’t the only part of Canada where a $0 income tax bill is possible, though — the dream is alive in Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Territories, too. In Ontario, they would have no tax, but would pay $1,500 for the health premium, which is essentially a tax.

In West Vancouver, they live in a $3-million home, which they bought 20 years ago for $400,000. They also have a $1.4-million cottage near Whistler, B.C., and a $600,000 house not far from Phoenix, Ariz. That’s about $5 million of real estate assets.

They will pay no income tax on the growth in value of their home, but will ultimately have to pay capital gains tax on the Whistler and Phoenix properties — but only when they sell. Of course, they do pay property taxes, but no income taxes.