If you thought Vancouver’s vacancy tax (or “empty homes tax”) was a problem only for absentee condo owners, think again. A flaw in the scheme of the tax makes it a serious risk for virtually anyone who buys a home…
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…
Under the provisions of the Income Tax Act (the “ITA”), the CRA is authorized to inspect a taxpayer’s books and records and to require taxpayers to provide information and documents in the course of an income tax audit. However, the…
Taxpayers regularly argue that an administrative policy adopted by the Canada Revenue Agency (the “CRA”) constitutes an incorrect interpretation of the law that courts should reject. Courts sometimes side with these taxpayers, and choose not to follow the CRA’s administrative…
In Burlington Resources Finance Company v. The Queen, 2017 TCC 144, Madam Justice D’Auray considered a motion brought by the Crown to compel the Appellant to answer certain questions that were refused during an examination for discovery. In the…
On July 18, 2017, the Department of Finance released its consultation policy paper on the taxation of private corporations first announced in Budget 2017, along with proposed legislation on some of the topics addressed.
The Minister’s introductory letter acknowledges the…
“Rectification”, a means to “fix” a mistake made in the implementation of an agreement, has been a popular topic in tax law since the Supreme Court of Canada’s decisions limiting the availability of rectification for tax planning errors in AG…
I last wrote about the decision in BP Canada Energy Company v. Canada (National Revenue), 2017 FCA 61 on April 10, 2017. In that decision the Court imposed important restrictions upon the use of the s.231.1(1) audit powers by…
The Income Tax Act provides CRA with broad powers of administration and enforcement. In BP Energy Company v. Minister of National Revenue, 2017 FCA 61, the appeal court considered the authority to conduct the inspection of books and records given…
The BC government recently congratulated itself on the apparent effects of its controversial decision over the summer to impose an additional 15% property transfer tax on purchases of real estate in Metro Vancouver by foreign buyers. Since then, the…