The Tax Court of Canada recently decided a new case under the general anti-avoidance rule (“GAAR”) in section 245 of the Income Tax Act. In Birchcliff Energy Ltd. v. The Queen, the Court held that the GAAR applied to restrict…
On October 13, 2017, the Federal Court of Appeal released its decision in Univar Holdco Canada ULC. v. H.M.Q. 2017 FCA 207 (“Univar”), overturning the trial decision at the Tax Court of Canada (2016 TCC 159). The judgment contained several…
Is aggressive tax avoidance immoral? Some people think so, but I don’t. (I’ve been on this topic before – see my blog post, June 5, 2013, “Tax Planning, Morality and Cowboys”). The bottom line for me is this: if…
In opera circles, they say the performance isn’t over until the fat lady sings. When she does rev up for the final aria, we know the show is coming to a close. I was reminded of this in an odd…
Many tax planning transactions fall within the definition of “avoidance transaction” in subsection 245(3) of the Income Tax Act and as such are subject to review under the general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR). Equally, many of the transactions that are reviewed…
A growing number of developed countries are looking for ways to beef up their anti-avoidance rules. According to a recent note in Tax Notes International (April 23, 2012), the Italian government proposes to introduce a general definition of abuse of…