I am regularly asked whether it is possible to “multiply” the small business deduction (the SBD), and just as regularly I find it difficult to provide easy-to-understand advice and guidance. The association rules are complex, and even if their technical requirements are met the CRA can still reassess to require corporations to share the SBD on the grounds that they are controlled de facto by the same person. Two recent cases show that the courts are willing to uphold such reassessments.
Current Tax Cases on June 1, 2006
I presented “Current Tax Cases” at the CRA’s Hamilton and District Tax Consultation Group on June 1, 2006 at the Royal Botanical Gardens. You can download my PowerPoint presentation here.
Going to Tax Court
Joe Monaco and I spend a good deal of time handling cases before the Tax Court of Canada because sometimes the CRA just will not listen to reason. Before filing an appeal, however, the client should understand something about the process. To that end, the following table provides a simplified outline of a General Procedure income tax appeal.
Amendments to the CA Act
Our readers who are CAs will be aware that Ontario has amended the Chartered Accountants Act, 1956 to permit professional corporations to be partners in limited liability partnerships. The amendments are effective May 18, 2006. The Chartered Accountants of Ontario…
Some Notes on CDA
Calculating CDA
Canada’s income tax system aspires to “neutrality” so that, in theory, an individual should be indifferent about whether he earns income directly or through a corporation. The CDA is one of the mechanisms employed to achieve this neutrality.
Food stamps for clients
A real estate agent provides vouchers for food and entertainment to his clients. The agent does not control how the clients use the vouchers, and he does not consume the food or attend the entertainments provided by the vouchers. Can…
The Charter and the Tax Court
Subsection 171(1) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the Act) sets out the jurisdiction of the Tax Court in income tax appeals. In general, the subsection does not permit the Tax Court to review the process by which the Minister arrives at an assessment. Rather, the Tax Court is empowered to determine only whether the amount of tax assessed is correct. It appears that even the Charter of Rights does not change this position: see Burrows v. The Queen, 2005 TCC 761 (not yet available online).
SCC Dismisses Art Donation Appeals
The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed the taxpayer’s application for leave to appeal from the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal in Canada (Attorney General) v. Nash, 2005 FCA 386. Click here to read our article on the…
Lipson Now Online
Lipson v. The Queen, 2006 TCC 148, Chief Justice Bowman’s recent GAAR decision, is now available online.
Combating the Crazies
For at least the last five or six years, an assortment of conspiracy theorists and their ilk have been trolling the Internet and spreading phony stories about the unlawful nature of Canada’s tax system (see, for example, the Usenet newsgroup can.taxes).