The Ontario Reports just published another rectification case. See Di Battista v. 874687 Ontario Inc., 80 O.R. (3d) 136, 2005 CanLII 51220 (ON S.C.). The report is sketchy on the details, but it contains a useful list of the relevant…
Intention and dance
Sometimes my clients like to tell me that “in tax, intention is everything”. In fact, the courts have always been quite careful to limit the role that mere subjective intention plays in determining the tax consequences of a transaction. For a recent example, see my article on Makuz v. The Queen, 2006 TCC 263. Royal Winnipeg Ballet v. M.N.R., 2006 FCA 87, rev’g 2004 TCC 390, however, seems to mark something of a new direction in this regard.
CRA “Service”
I am back from holidays now and back to having to deal with the many-headed Hydra that is the CRA.
Over the last few years the CRA has been “rationalizing” its services to cut costs and, supposedly, improve its services. A recent example of these changes is the reduction of services available at the counters at tax services offices. The CRA explains this change as follows:
PCs and Personal Service Businesses
Under the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the “Act”) significant tax advantages may be available to a professional who derives his or her income through a corporation, of which he or she is both a shareholder and an employee, rather than directly from a practice operated in his or her name.
Tax shelters
Chief Justice Bowman of the Tax Court of Canada just does not like tax shelters much. He has released a number of decisions over the last few years in which he has ruled against taxpayers who purchased shelters of one kind or another. Makuz v. The Queen, 2006 TCC 263, is another recent example.
Control and groups
Crystal Beach Park Limited v. The Queen, 2006 TCC 183 is an interesting case with some local roots
Fees, audits, objections and appeals
When can a taxpayer deduct fees paid to contest an assessment or reassessment? As is usual in tax matters, the answer is neither simple nor obvious.
Checking GST Numbers
You can now check the CRA’s website to see whether a person really is a GST registrant. The CRA explains: The GST/HST Registry lets you validate the GST/HST number of a business, which helps to ensure that claims submitted for…
More on Fraud
In September last year, I wrote a short article about fraud and income tax. The Federal Court of Appeal reiterated the law on this subject in Vankerk v. The Queen, 2006 FCA 96. The ratio of Madame Justice Sharlow is…
Limits on Solicitor and Client Privilege
Some time ago, we wrote an article for The Bottom Line on accountants and client privilege (see the mid-September, 2003 issue). In the article, we noted that, in light of Tower v. M.N.R. and BDO Dunwoody LLP, [2002] D.T.C. 7315 (F.C.T.D.), rev’d 2003 FCA 307 on other grounds, most communications between an accountant and her client are not privileged. A recent case—M.N.R. v. Reddy, 2006 FC 277—shows that neither is some of the confidential information held by a lawyer about her client.