Were commissions, received by self-employed workers (financial security advisors) for sales of financial products made to themselves, taxable? Included in the inquiry were "joint" products, such as RESPs, RRSPs, jointly-held mutual funds and joint lines of credit.
CRA responded that, generally, the commission from the sale of a life insurance policy of which that individual is the owner is not includible in the advisor's business income provided that the advisor is required to pay the premiums related to the policy (and similarly for a critical illness insurance policy) unless the amount of the commission is “substantial” – but that “commissions received by such a self-employed worker as a result of the sale of mutual funds or mortgage loans for which the individual is the owner must be included in his or her income from a business” – and similarly for the "joint" products described above.