Darkseas

3 Portfolios for a Steady Cash Flow

It's important to note that HTE, ERF, and PWE are Canadian companies. That means that they must withhold 15% tax on the distribution.

I'm not an accountant, but I believe that if you hold the stock in a tax-deferred or tax-free (Roth) account, you cannot deduct that tax. The Canadian companies tend to have higher payouts, and you should do the math to see if that compensates.

Canada is considering legislation to substantially increase the tax on distributions from pass-through entities. The current proposal includes a phase-in until 2011, but it's not clear how things will turn out.

Bottom line: If you're paying U.S. taxes, it's probably less of a hassle to go with CRT, SJT, and/or HGT.