Assiduous Reader JB writes in and brings to my attention a nuance in the conversion of Artis preferred units that had previously escaped me:
You have probably dealt with this question, so I apologize if that is the case.
I own a small position in Artis Preferred Series C. It is a $US pref. (I own lots of other preferreds.)
In the prospectus it states (I’m paraphrasing) that the CRA would consider conversion to the D shares a taxable event. I’m at a loss to determine why this is the case, since in another 5 years, I could convert back, should that be my choice.
Is this just an anomaly, or is this really the CRA’s position?
Well! First of all, let’s have a look at the prospectuses (not directly linked because rights are owned by the Canadian Securities Administrators, and why would they allow convenient access to public documents of interest to investors?)
Preferred Units, Series A (AX.PR.A) Prospectus on SEDAR under “Artis Real Estate Investment Trust Jul 25 2012 20:10:04 ET Prospectus supplement – English PDF 288 K”
In general, a disposition or deemed disposition of a Series A or Series B Unit will give rise to a capital gain (or a capital loss) equal to the amount by which the proceeds of disposition, net of any reasonable costs of disposition, exceed (or are exceeded by) the adjusted cost base of the Series A or Series B Unit, as the case may be, to the Preferred Unitholder. In the Ruling, the CRA expresses the preliminary view that the reclassification of Series A Units as Series B Units (or Series B Units as Series A Units) would likely result in a taxable disposition at that time. In such circumstances, a Preferred Unitholder will generally be considered to have disposed of the reclassified Preferred Units for proceeds of disposition equal to the fair market value of the Preferred Units into which such units are reclassified.
Preferred Units, Series C (AX.PR.U) Prospectus on SEDAR under “Artis Real Estate Investment Trust Sep 11 2012 16:24:11 ET Prospectus supplement – English PDF 287 K”
In general, a disposition or deemed disposition of a Series C or Series D Unit will give rise to a capital gain (or a capital loss) equal to the amount by which the proceeds of disposition, net of any reasonable costs of disposition, exceed (or are exceeded by) the adjusted cost base of the Series C or Series D Unit, as the case may be, to the Preferred Unitholder. In the Ruling, the CRA expresses the preliminary view that the reclassification of Series A Units as Series B Units (or Series B Units as Series A Units) would likely result in a taxable disposition at that time and the same consideration will apply on a reclassification of Series C Units as Series D Units (or Series D Units as Series C Units). In such circumstances, a Preferred Unitholder will generally be considered to have disposed of the reclassified Preferred Units for proceeds of disposition equal to the fair market value of the Preferred Units into which such units are reclassified.
Preferred Units, Series E (AX.PR.E) Prospectus on SEDAR under “Artis Real Estate Investment Trust Mar 14 2013 12:50:30 ET Prospectus supplement – English PDF 298 K”
In general, a disposition or deemed disposition of a Series E or Series F Unit will give rise to a capital gain (or a capital loss) equal to the amount by which the proceeds of disposition, net of any reasonable costs of disposition, exceed (or are exceeded by) the adjusted cost base of the Series E or Series F Unit, as the case may be, to the Preferred Unitholder. In the Ruling, the CRA expresses the preliminary view that the reclassification of Series A Units as Series B Units (or Series B Units as Series A Units) would likely result in a taxable disposition at that time and the same consideration will apply on a reclassification of Series E Units as Series F Units (or Series F Units as Series E Units). In such circumstances, a Preferred Unitholder will generally be considered to have disposed of the reclassified Preferred Units for proceeds of disposition equal to the fair market value of the Preferred Units into which such units are reclassified.
Preferred Units, Series G (AX.PR.G) Prospectus on SEDAR under “Artis Real Estate Investment Trust Jul 22 2013 13:34:56 ET Prospectus supplement – English PDF 304 K”
In general, a disposition or deemed disposition of a Series G or Series H Unit will give rise to a capital gain (or a capital loss) equal to the amount by which the proceeds of disposition, net of any reasonable costs of disposition, exceed (or are exceeded by) the adjusted cost base of the Series G or Series H Unit, as the case may be, to the Preferred Unitholder. In the Ruling, the CRA expresses the preliminary view that the reclassification of Series A Units as Series B Units (or Series B Units as Series A Units) would likely result in a taxable disposition at that time and the same consideration will apply on a reclassification of Series G Units as Series H Units (or Series H Units as Series G Units). In such circumstances, a Preferred Unitholder will generally be considered to have disposed of the reclassified Preferred Units for proceeds of disposition equal to the fair market value of the Preferred Units into which such units are reclassified.
So in each case the company has warned of a preliminary view by the CRA that conversion is a taxable event, which all appears to be based on the view they took when examining the first issue. Of course, it’s only preliminary, but to those of us who are unwilling to spend six figures discussing the matter in tax court, that counts as definitive.
As to why this should be the case … I simply don’t know. I suspect it has a lot to do with the idea that (from the AX.PR.G prospectus):
The Canadian federal income tax considerations that may arise in connection with the acquisition, holding, disposition or reclassification of preferred units of a trust are, in some respects, materially different from the acquisition, holding, disposition or exchange of preferred shares of a corporation.
…
“REIT Exception” means the exception from the SIFT Rules available to a SIFT trust which satisfies a series of conditions relating to the nature of a SIFT’s revenue and property, as more particularly described below under “Principal Canadian Federal Income Tax Considerations – SIFT Rules and REIT Exception”;
…
“SIFT Rules” means the amendments to provisions of the Tax Act proclaimed in force on June 22, 2007, as amended, that implement the changes announced as part of the Tax Fairness Plan proposed by the Minister of Finance (Canada) on October 31, 2006 which modify the tax treatment of “specified investment flow-throughs”, including publicly traded income trusts and limited partnerships, and the tax treatment of their unitholders in the manner described below under “Principal Canadian Federal Income Tax Considerations – SIFT Rules and REIT Exception”;
…
The balance of this summary assumes that Artis qualifies as a mutual fund trust and will continue to so qualify at all material times. If Artis were not to qualify as a mutual fund trust, the income tax considerations described below would, in some respects, be materially different.
… but this is getting into arcane interpretations of tax law in which a simple Portfolio Manager such as myself should take the view that anything he says will be wrong. However, I must say that I am surprised that Artis did not highlight this unusual nuance in its notice of extension for AX.PR.A.