ABIL

Jamie Golombek has written an interesting piece on a taxpayer who tried to claim an ABIL and was met with the usual CRA skepticism. The issue in dispute in the Tax Court appeal eventually resolved itself into whether a return…

Exemption trap

March 30 Update John Campbell, in a comment posted below, points out that paragraph 110.6(15)(b) likely provides an escape from the “trap” that I discuss below at least insofar that one is concerned about whether the shares of Holdco qualify for the exemption.

I was helping a fellow tax professional with a situation like the following where I think I almost stumbled into a trap relating to the $750,000 capital gain exemption.

Relief?

I always hesitate to take a client’s money for a relief or fairness application because the CRA is usually pretty unsympathetic and the courts not much more helpful. In two relatively recent cases, the courts found that the CRA decision-making process in response to relief applications had been flawed, but the courts refused to provide a different result or order the Minister to reconsider the matter.