The Federal Court of Appeal, in The Queen v. Anchor Pointe Energy Ltd., 2007 FCA 188, has reversed Chief Justice Bowman’s decision in 2006 TCC 424. I discuss the latter decision here.
The Long Arm of Section 160
Section 160 of the Income Tax Act permits the CRA to assess “at any time” a taxpayer who receives property for inadequate consideration from a non-arm’s length person who, at the time of the transfer, has a liability under that Act. Section 160 gives the CRA very long arms indeed when it is trying to reach into a taxpayer’s pocket, as is shown by Wannan v. The Queen, 2003 FCA 423, 1 C.B.R. (5th) 117, [2004] 1 C.T.C. 326, [2003] D.T.C. 5715.
QSBCS Status
Estate of Edward Reilly v. The Queen, 2007 TCC 404, considers whether shares of a corporation owned by an individual were qualified small business corporation shares (QSBCS) at the time of his death. If the shares had been QSBCS, the individual’s estate would have been entitled to claim the capital gains exemption to eliminate the gain the individual realized on death in respect of the shares.
Delay
The Supreme Court released its decision today in The Queen v. Addison & Leyen Ltd., 2007 SCC 33. The case considers whether the CRA really can assess a taxpayer “at any time” under section 160 of the Income Tax Act.
“Written agreement”
Shaw v. The Queen, 2007 TCC 148, an informal procedure decision of the Tax Court, considered the meaning of “written agreement” as found in the provisions of the Income Tax Act governing the deductibility of support.
GST and Damages
Damages paid for breach of contract, either pursuant to a judgment or further to a settlement, can be subject to GST. Section 182 of the Excise Tax Act provides that any such amount is deemed to include GST, which the…
Broker receiving fees through a company
In Boutilier v. The Queen, 2007 TCC 96, the taxpayer received trailer fees and reported them as income he had earned. Later, he purported to transfer his fee-earning business to a company. Fees received by the taxpayer were assigned to the company and reported in its income. The Minister reassessed on the basis that subsection 56(4) of the Income Tax Act applied to the transfer of the fees to the company.
“Indirectly … by any other means whatever”
In St-Pierre c. La Reine, 2007 CCI 90, the taxpayer transferred shares of a corporation to his management company, which he controlled. The management company transferred the shares to the taxpayer’s spouse. The spouse later disposed of shares substituted for…
A Mind Bender
How do subsection 55(2) and Part IV of the Income Tax Act (Canada) work together? The Tax Court considered this question recently in Ottawa Air Cargo Centre Ltd. v. The Queen, 2007 TCC 193 (“Air Cargo”).
LLCs
Last week’s CCH Tax Topics has an interesting article on limited liability companies (LLCs) in light of the B.C. Supreme Court’s decision in Boliden Westmin Ltd. et al. v. The Queen, 2007 BCSC 351.