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).
GAAR Redux
In my post yesterday, I should have mentioned that Lipson v. The Queen, 2006 TCC 148, considered a set of transactions with some similarity to those considered by Mr. Justice Little in Overs v. The Queen, 2006 TCC 26, which…
Latest GAAR decision
Two days ago, the Tax Court released the latest decision of Chief Justice Bowman on the general anti-avoidance rule (the GAAR). The case, Lipson v. The Queen, 2006 TCC 148, does not appear to be on-line yet. The case considers…
Donations in the criminal law context
Jeff Manishen, a Hamilton lawyer who specializes in criminal law, wrote to me recently to ask some interesting questions about donations. Jeff sometimes negotiates arrangements under which clients can avoid prosecution by making a donation to a charity. Some charities, however, refuse to issue receipts for such donations. Is that right? My responses follow.
Paid-up Capital Traps
According to the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the “Act”), when computing paid-up capital (“PUC”) for tax purposes, one must begin with “an amount equal to the paid-up capital in respect of that class of shares at the particular time, computed without reference to the provisions of this Act”.
What is PUC “computed without reference to the provisions of this Act”?
Good news for CAs
Here is some good news for accountants from last week’s provincial budget: a chartered accountant’s professional corporation will be able to become a member of a limited liability partnership.
CRA Charities Newsletter No. 26
The CRA recently released Registered Charities Newsletter No. 26. The newsletter contains an interesting discussion of the legal meaning of words like “may”, “shall” and “deemed”. It also has a useful table setting out the period of time for which…