One sometimes hears that a taxpayer’s task in a Tax Court appeal is to “demolish” the assumptions of the CRA (as listed in the Crown’s Reply) by proving them wrong on a balance of probabilities. Webb JA, in Morrison v.…
Fraudulent conveyances and estate planning
CanLII Connects has posted a good article by Duncan J. Manson on fraudulent conveyances and estate planning. The article is BC-centric. Would the analysis be any different under Ontario law?
Director due diligence
Ahmar v R, 2020 FCA 65, reminds us that a director is not duly diligent if he fails to remit HST in the hope that he can turn around the corporation’s business. This is true even where the director is…
Application denied
A taxpayer cannot bring an application for a court order preventing the CRA from exercising its power to demand records and information even where the taxpayer believes that the CRA would be estopped from issuing an assessment for a matter to which the records and information relate.
Rectification revival
The BC courts continue to do their part to revive rectification as an important tool for fixing tax mistakes (or, more properly, delineate better the circumstances in which the tool can be used). See 5551928 Manitoba Ltd. (Re), 2018 BCSC…
Tenant improvements and 15(1)
Wise v R, 2019 TCC 196, … a shareholder successfully argued that tenant improvements made by a related corporation did not confer an immediate benefit for the purposes of subsection 15(1) due to the provisions of the specific legal…
Planning like it’s the 1990s again
The CRA has reversed a long-standing (and questionable) position on whether a deemed dividend arising under paragraph 84.1(1)(b) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) gives rise to a dividend refund in the purchaser corporation. The CRA apparently now accepts that…
Inter-corporate dividends again
In A.G. Stedman “Intercorporate Dividend Planning: More Complexity” 20:1 Tax for the Owner-Manager (January 2020), the author outlines factors to consider when a private corporation proposes to pay a dividend to another private corporation as follows: When a subsidiary corporation…
IPP surplus payment and Part XIII tax
In technical interpretation 2017-0732681E5 (September 12, 2019), the CRA took the position that the distribution of an actuarial surplus from an individual pension plan to a US-resident taxpayer would not qualify for US treaty relief. The CRA stated that the…
Accountant’s due diligence report
Steve Suarez, “FCA To Hear Atlas Tube Appeal” 27:12 Canadian Tax Highlights (December 2019), discusses Canada (National Revenue) v. Atlas Tube Canada ULC, 2018 FC 1086. The Federal Court held that an accounting firm’s due diligence report on the tax…