CRA rules tracking shares acceptable for DSU plan

Published by Ian Gamble

Paragraph 6801(d) of the Regulations (Reg. 6801(d)) prescribes an exception to the salary deferral arrangement rules for a deferred share unit (DSU) plan that provides for the following: (i) the employee (or his estate) may receive an amount after the employee’s death or retirement (the Event) and no later than the end of the first calendar year commencing after the Event, and (ii) the amount depends on the fair market value (FMV) of shares of the corporate employer (or a related corporation) within the period that commences one year before the Event and ends at the time the amount is received. However, the DSU plan is disqualified under the postamble in Reg. 6801(d) where the employee (or non-arm’s length person) is entitled to obtain a benefit granted for the purpose of reducing the impact of any reduction in the FMV of the shares. In 2012-0457101R3 (recently released), the CRA Rulings Directorate considered whether amendments could be made to an existing DSU plan to add a new class of DSUs based on shares that tracked underlying limited partnership interests in a particular partnership (Tracking Shares), without disqualifying the DSU plan under Reg. 6801(d). The CRA ruled that the amendment could be made. In particular, the postamble in Reg. 6801(d) continued to be met because no action could be taken to reduce the impact of any downward fluctuation in the FMV of the Tracking Shares.