An individual, who used a loan ("Loan 1") bearing interest at the prescribed rate (2%) to purchase securities for $100,000, now wishes to refinance the loan at 1%. Accordingly, half the securities (which have doubled in value) are sold for $100,000, which is used to repay Loan 1, and $100,000 is borrowed at the new prescribed rate of 1% ("Loan 2") to purchase new investments. Does CRA agree that the attribution rules will not apply to the retained securities nor to the new investments?
CRA stated, regarding the repayment of Loan 1, that IT-511R, para. 22 states that if property has been acquired with a loan that satisfies the requirements of s. 74.5(2) and the loan is repaid, the attribution rules in ss. 74.1 and 74.2 will cease to apply after the repayment.
Regarding Loan 2, the s. 74.5(2) exception to the attribution rules could apply if all the conditions stated therein were met.
Finally, s. 74.1(3), which ensures that the attribution rules will continue to apply where a new loan is used, e.g., to repay an existing loan that was used to acquire property, would not “technically” apply, because the proceeds from Loan 2 were not used to repay Loan 1.