THAT’S A BIG QUALIFIER, OF COURSE.

Yukon. It’s only $45,309 in Prince Edward Island, $35,835 in Quebec, $30,509 in Nova Scotia, $24,271 in Manitoba and just $18,679 in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Note this data is as of 2016: According to John Waters, vice-president, director of Tax Consulting Services for BMO Wealth Management, BMO won’t update for 2017 until all 2017 provincial budgets are released. When it first began publishing the document for the 2012 tax year, the maximum amount of tax-free income on eligible dividends was $47,888 in Ontario and eight other provinces.

The amount rose $48,844 in 2013 and $49,284 in 2014.

Also note that the amounts in the BMO table reflect the actual amounts of to to taxes owing. (Your T-5 slip will indicate if the dividend is eligible or non-eligible). There are also provincial dividend tax credits: in Ontario since 2014 it has been 10 per cent of the grossed-up dividend.

Given the right circumstances and planning, the strategy can work, says Aaron Hector, a certified financial planner with Calgary-based Doherty & Bryant Financial Strategies. So for couples in the $51,474 category, that’s potentially $100,000 worth a year of tax-free dividends, assuming each spouse declares 50 per cent of the dividend income on their tax returns. That seems to be the default assumption although it’s possible to adjust the split if you can satisfy the attribution rules and show a disproportionate amount of the nonregistered