The CRA has taken to posting answers to frequently-asked questions about government goodies (aka Easter eggs hidden in the Income Tax Act). It has posted a useful guide to the new tax-free savings account proposed in the last budget.
Non-compete case
RCI Environnement Inc.(Centres de Transbordement et de Valorisation Nord-Sud Inc.) c. La Reine, 2007 CCI 647, is an interesting case on non-competes. CCH has translated the decision into English.
Budget Bill II
Ahem. Apparently the text of the budget bill—Bill C-50—has been on the LEGISINFO website for some time. In addition to the text of the Bill, you can find an RSS feed for the Bill’s status at its homepage.
Budget bill
From a Finance press release issued today: The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, today introduced legislation in the House of Commons to implement key measures from Budget 2008. The bill also includes language to protect the Government’s fiscal plan…
Information Returns
In early January, I reported that “the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services (the “MGCS”) and the CRA are working to integrate the information return with the new single tax return.” On Monday, the MGCS issued a notice stating that the process is moving forward as follows:
Budget legislation
The following was just posted to the Finance website: Federal Government Moves to Strengthen Canada’s Tax Advantage and Protect the Fiscal Framework.
RESPs
A number of news outlets are carrying stories today about the private member’s bill on the deductibility of RESP contributions. The bill in question is C-253, and you can find the text of the bill here.
Revocation
The following is an extract from a press release posted on the CRA’s website today:
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has revoked the registered charity status of the Francis Jude Wilson Foundation, a Montreal-area charity. This revocation was effective February 23, 2008, and follows a letter dated August 27, 2007, that was sent to the Foundation.
Notes on a Price Adjustment Clause
The following article will appear in the next edition of the HLA Journal.
Almost every tax-driven reorganization requires the lawyer implementing it to draft a price adjustment clause (a “PAC”). Most lawyers will have their favourite precedent for such a clause, but a lawyer needs to understand the nature and purpose of PACs—and how the CRA interprets them—so that he or she can use them appropriately in the context of any given set of transactions. This article does not purport to be a complete review of the theory and practice of PACs; it is more like a collection of notes on some of the more important features of a PAC precedent.
Requirements
The following article appeared in the latest edition of the HLA Journal.
CRA “requirements” (a “Requirement”) are a form of garnishment for unpaid taxes, and they can be quite troublesome for a business, especially if its systems aren’t what they should be. Businesses are used to acting as tax collectors for the federal and provincial government, of course: businesses withhold and remit amounts from wages and they collect and remit sales taxes. A Requirement, however, applies whenever a business is liable to pay an amount to another person; it is an obligation to act as a tax collector that applies in a broader variet of circumstances, not just when wages are payable, or goods or services are sold.