elliot_mllr

Canadian Energy Infrastructure Income Trusts: The Big Picture

That's a very good analysis. However, please note that for a US taxpayer there is a real benefit in investing in US MLPs in which 100% or 90% of the distributions are returns of capital. In my case I have so many accumulated capital loss carryovers that my basis could be reduced by returns of capital and I would still not realize any gains for some time to come. Therefore I have to weigh a 9% or 10% yield US tax free against a 13% yield in Canadian $, which currently translates into a 10% yield US, all of which is taxable here and where the cash flow is reduced by the 15% Canadian withholding tax. Usually the US MLPs win. I have EPD, ETP, ETE,TPP and CPNO. Admittedly these often have exposure to commodity prices to at least some extent (in the case of CPNO, quite a lot), but they are good at hedging to protect the distributions.