Selling a business, stocks, shares, goodwill, or land for a profit is a capital gain. A corporation must include capital gains in its declared taxable income. Corporations must only have half of their capital gains (50%) in their income. It is also known as the capital gains inclusion rate.
Since only 50% of capital gains are taxable, the capital gains corporate tax rate is 50% of investment earnings. Having a capital gain in the future may result in a large tax bill, so corporations should consult with a tax accountant to understand the tax implications. Corporations can also use capital losses to offset capital gains.
2023 Federal tax brackets
Investing $10,000 in stock would result in a capital gain of $5,000, which is taxable. Subtract your selling costs from $5,000 and multiply that by the tax rate listed according to your annual income. Capital gains and losses are both accounted for by the remaining number. If you have a capital gain, you must pay capital gains tax on it. You keep the rest of the profit from the sale.
The following is a breakdown of the federal tax brackets for 2023:
| Annual Income | Tax Brackets | Tax Rates | Tax Maximum Per Bracket | Total Tax Maximum |
| Up to $49,020 | The first $49,020 | 15% | $7,353 | $7,353 |
| $49,020 to $98,040 | The next $49,020 | 20.50% | $10,049.10 | $17,402.10 ($7,353 + $10,049.10) |
| $98,040 to $151,978 | The next $53,938 | 26% | $14,023.88 | $31,425.98 ($17,402.10 + $14,023.88) |
| $151,978 to $216,511 | The next $64,533 | 29% | $18,714.58 | $50,140.55 ($31,425.98 + $18,714.57) |
| Over $216,511 | Over $216,511 | 33% | n/a | n/a |
How to Calculate a Capital Gain
There are a few terms you need to understand before you can calculate your capital gain.
Profits from Disposition – What you will or have received from the sale.
The Adjusted Cost Base (ACB) – The investment cost plus acquisition expenses, such as commissions and legal fees.
The Outlays and Expenses – Renovations, maintenance costs, commissions, and finders fees are all costs associated with selling your investment.
Here is the equation for calculating capital gains based on the values above:
Proceeds of disposition – (ACB + outlays and expenses) = capital gain
When capital losses are less than proceeds of disposition, they can be used to offset future or past capital gains.
The process of paying capital gains tax in Canada
Capital gains may be taxable even if your investment has appreciated since you purchased it. Capital gains are only sometimes triggered by sales. You can dispose of an asset even if you do not exchange money.
Even if the taxpayer did not collect any funds or only collected a token amount such as $1, there is still a disposition, and mathematically it is treated the same as a fair market sale. Gains on later sales of assets are calculated as if they were acquired at fair market value at the time of the deemed disposition. If you sell an asset at a higher price than when you acquired it, you will have to pay capital gains tax.
Manage Your Capital Gains Corporate Tax
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