On June 28, 2019, the Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision on the Ontario government’s reference regarding the constitutionality of the federal carbon pricing regime. Like the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal ruled in May, the majority of the…
On May 3, 2019, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal released its decision in the Saskatchewan government’s reference asking it if the federal “carbon tax” is unconstitutional. The Court held that the federal legislation was validly enacted under the
The BC government’s recent focus on tax evasion and money laundering in the real estate market has led to proposed legislation, the Land Owner Transparency Act (Bill 23 – 2019), which will impose potentially onerous disclosure requirements on those who…
In Budget 2019, the federal government continues to bolster its tools and resources to detect and prosecute tax evasion and money laundering. These proposals are relevant both to those who do not pay the amount of tax the law requires,…
Minister of Finance, Bill Morneau, tabled the 2019 Budget today (“Budget Day”). This Thorsteinssons update summarizes some of the main tax takeaways.
The tax measures introduced in the Budget should not impact the vast majority of businesses. As a pre-election…
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) recently announced that, through a consultation process, it is examining the use and, more particularly, what it says are occasions of misuse of claims of solicitor-client privilege. The Consultation is interesting but, it also provides…
Several weeks ago the Vancouver city council passed a motion instructing its staff to develop a plan that would “improve the fairness and effectiveness of the Empty Homes Tax [or EHT]…”. This would require a review of “the fairness and…
Yesterday, the CBC reported that the CRA has transferred more than 1.6 million Canadian banking records to the United States Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) since an information sharing agreement was entered into between the two countries in 2014. The…
The Tax Court of Canada decision in Lee v The Queen, 2018 TCC 230 clarified the concept of sham in the context of transactions undertaken to give effect to a tax plan. The decision draws a line between tax avoidance…
Earnings within Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs) and other tax-deferred plans are, in principle, supposed to grow “tax-free”. However, some taxes can still apply. One such tax is the advantage tax which applies at the rate of 100% of any advantage…