M THE DAILY INSIGHT
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Can you charge interest on shareholder loan?

By Andrew Patterson

For the loan not to be considered income, according to the CRA, interest must be charged by the corporation at a prescribed rate to any shareholder loan amount.

Can a company loan a shareholder money?

A Shareholder Loan Agreement (also called a “Stockholder Loan Agreement”) is used when a corporation is borrowing money from one of its shareholders (or “stockholders”); a shareholder (or “stockholder”) is lending money to its corporation; or a corporation owes money to a shareholder (or “stockholder”) (for salary, etc …

How long do you have to pay back a shareholder loan?

one year
The general rule is that if a withdrawal from a corporation, designated as a shareholder loan, is repaid within one year from the end of the taxation year of the corporation, that is the taxation year in which the loan was made, it will not be included in the income of the borrower.

Is season ticket loan a taxable benefit?

As long as the total outstanding balances on these loans do not exceed the threshold at any time in a tax year, there will be no tax charge. For example, many employers provide employees with low or interest-free loans to enable them to buy transport season tickets.

How does an interest-free season ticket loan work?

Many employers offer interest-free, or low-interest, season ticket loans. Your employer will either give you a cheque made out to the travel company you’re buying the season ticket from, or will give you the cash into your bank account for you to use on the ticket.

Is interest on shareholder loan tax deductible?

Debt repayment by the corporation is not an earnings distribution to the shareholder, and therefore it is tax-free. Dividend distributions are not deductible by the corporation, whereas interest payments are deductible by the corporation [Section 163].

Is there a prescribed rate for shareholder loans?

A: There is no prescribed rate for interest payable to shareholders on shareholder loans and it could even be at a zero rate. However the deductibility of the interest could be disallowed on the basis of being excessive and interest free loans could have tax…

What’s the interest rate on a shareholder current account?

The prescribed interest rate is set by the IRD on a quarterly basis and for the quarter ended 31 March 2017 this was at 5.77%. The interest becomes taxable revenue of the company and it further exacerbates the shareholder current account overdraft balance. How to fix an overdrawn shareholder current account?

Can a company charge no interest on a loan?

Can we charge no interest? Is this interest deductible for tax purposes as the loans were given to purchase properties? A: There is no prescribed rate for interest payable to shareholders on shareholder loans and it could even be at a zero rate.

Do you pay tax on interest paid to shareholders?

What tax is payable by the company for interest paid to the shareholder? Interest paid to a shareholder on their loan account must be distinguished from declared dividends, on which a company pays withholdings tax of 20%. Ordinarily, the interest expense is deductible for a company’s tax purposes.