UMVA has learned that a prominent marketing professor, Gad Saad, is being forced to pay a hefty "exit tax" to leave Canada, a move he says has left him feeling numb and speechless.
The professor, author of the book Suicidal Empathy: Dying to Be Kind, claims that Quebec and Canada are making him pay this tax before he moves to the United States, citing the onerous tax system and governments' immigration policies as reasons for his departure.
Saad expressed his outrage on social media, stating that no human being in a free society should have their hard-earned money stolen in this manner, and revealed that he discovered the extent of the exit tax after a difficult meeting with his accountant.
According to information obtained by UMVA, Saad cited two main reasons for leaving Canada: the country's tax system, which he says makes it nearly impossible to retire, and the government's immigration policies, which he believes have made Canada unsafe for Jewish Canadians like himself and his family.
Rising antisemitism in Canada, particularly since the Hamas attacks on Israel in October 2023, has contributed to Saad's decision to leave, with religiously motivated hate crimes increasing by 75% from 2022 to 2023, the majority of which targeted Canada's Jewish population.
Canada's Departure Tax, officially known as an exit tax, is levied on capital gains when someone ceases to be a resident of Canada for tax purposes, essentially forcing individuals to pay taxes on the appreciation of their assets at the time of their departure.
This tax applies to shares held in private or public corporations, mutual funds, cryptocurrency, some real estate outside of Canada, and interests in trusts, but does not apply to TFSAs, RRSPs, Canadian real estate, pensions, or cash on hand.
UMVA can exclusively reveal that individuals looking to avoid the departure tax may consider liquidating their TFSAs before moving abroad, as countries like the U.S. may not recognize these accounts and could tax any generated interest, dividends, or capital gains.
