Bankruptcy Ontario
(Assets you keep in a Bankruptcy)
These exemptions are applicable to all seizures not just in a bankruptcy or proposal context.
| NEWS FLASH! Ontario Sales Tax Transitional Benefits (OSTTB).Eligible Ontario tax filers will receive three tax-free payments scheduled for June 10, 2010, December 2010 and June 2011. The OSTTB is time limited and no benefit will be paid after April 30, 2013.
The OSTTB is exempt from seizure by trustees in a bankruptcy and will not be taken into account when calculating surplus income. |
The property exempt from seizure is set by the provinces and territories and applies to the equity in the asset.
Equity is the excess that the value of an asset has over any charges or encumbrances against that asset.
For example, if you have a car worth $5,000 and there is a $2,000 secured debt against it then the equity in the car is $3,000. In Ontario the exemption for a car is $5,650 so in this example you are entitled to the equity of $3,000 and the unsecured creditors cannot take this.
Ontario Bankruptcy Exemptions are:
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Clothing
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$5,600.00
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Household Goods
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$11,300.00
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Tools of the Trade
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$11,300.00
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Farmers
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$28,300.00
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Motor Vehicle
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$ 5,650.00
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Effective July 7, 2008 exemptions are in effect for all registered retirement savings plans (RRSP’s, RRIF’s and DPSP’s (Deferred Profit Sharing Plans).
- Contributions made in the 12 months prior to the date of bankruptcy will be recovered (clawed back) for the benefit of the bankruptcy estate for RRSPs in provinces without RRSP exemption laws (BC, Alberta, Ontario, NB, and NS);
- There will be no upper cap on the amount of RRSPs that can be protected;
- There will be no need to set up the RRSPs in a locked in plan to make them eligible for exemption;
- The court will have no jurisdiction to extend the one year claw back period period in an appropriate case.
Ontario Sales Tax Credit (OSTC).
For 2010, the new sales tax credit will provide annual relief of up to $260 for each adult and child. Ontario residents must apply for the OSTC, along with the goods and services / harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) credit when they file their income tax and benefit.
The OSTC is exempt from seizure by the trustee. However, the GST/HST tax credit will be available to the trustee to the amount necessary to cover trustee fee
I don’t understand what happens after April 2013? Is there someone I can contact from your organization and are you affiliated with these guys declaringbankruptcyontario.com? I have been researching declaring bankruptcy in Ontario for the past week and there is very limited information on the subject.
Any input will be appreciated. Thank you in advance!
Jenn B.
Hi Jenn,
Great question. After April 2013 ONT will no longer be retroactively paying tax payers for the Ontario Sales Tax Transitional Benefit. We wanted to make a point of that information because the OSTTB cannot be taken in a bankruptcy as surplus income. We are not affiliated with the people at declaringbankruptcyontario.com as we are based out of Edmonton AB. We have helped clients in Ontario before though. Bankruptcy is a big decision Jenn it’s great you are researching it please let us know if you need anymore help.