Tips for U.S. taxpayers who own P.E.I. land

Island Nature Trust is offering an information and social session for any U.S. taxpayers who hold land in P.E.I., and for those who advise them.

The conservation organization is partnering with American Friends of Canadian Land Trusts to bring two experts on international taxation and cross-border land conservation to speak to a limited audience in Cardigan on Sept. 5.

American Friends of Canadian Land Trusts partners with Canadian conservation organizations and American owners of ecologically significant lands to protect Canada’s natural areas, clean water, abundant habitat and quality of life for citizens of both countries.

Sandra Tassel, president of Look at the Land Inc. and program co-ordinator for American Friends of Canadian Land Trusts, will be presenting informally, along with associate Jason Hale, partner at Grant Thornton in Halifax and a specialist in U.S. and international tax services.

The long history of travel for work and trade along the eastern seaboard has resulted in considerable American ownership of land in the Maritimes.

In P.E.I., 3.3 per cent of land is owned by U.S. residents.

By comparison, the Island has 3.6 per cent of land protected as natural area, the smallest amount of protected land of any province in Canada.

In the past, Americans wanting to protect their Island acreages using provincial legislation or by donating it to a charity were subject to capital gains tax on these gifts to Islanders.

That tax bill can come as a shock when a similar gift in the U.S. would incur no tax.

Island Nature Trust and American Friends of Canadian Land Trusts hope to inform Americans and those who assist them in estate planning, in a friendly and relaxed session.