This past Tuesday, April 1, 2014, marked the one-year anniversary of the new PST and the kick-off of audit season under BC’s Provincial Sales Tax Act (PSTA). Businesses have reason for concern: despite significant confusion surrounding the implementation of the…
The decision in Fio Corporation v. The Queen, 2014 TCC 58 is an interesting and recent example in which the Minister’s attempt to gain exemption from well-established and long standing rules of litigation was met with censure from the court.…
On March 20, 2014 the Supreme Court of Canada granted leave to appeal in the case of Guindon v. The Queen. If one had been listening closely on that Thursday morning, it is likely that one could have heard both…
British Columbia practitioners were shocked by paragraph 85(1)(f) of the Family Law Act (British Columbia), which was brought into force on March 18, 2013, because it effectively presumes that property held by a discretionary trust is 100% owned by a…
Earlier this month, the federal government announced that it had reached an agreement with the U.S. to ameliorate the more drastic effects of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The announcement came mere days before the 2014 Federal Budget…
On February 11, 2014, the Minister of Finance released the federal government’s 2014 Budget. The Budget continued last year’s theme of “closing tax loopholes” and “improving the fairness and integrity of the tax system,” and to that end proposed a…
CRA narrowly interprets foreign affiliate income recharacterization rule. In 2012-0439661I7 (released February 5, 2014), the CRA narrowly construed the foreign affiliate income recharacterization rule in s. 95(2)(a)(i), which can operate to convert income from property (FAPI) of a foreign…
In the recent decision of Nottawasaga Inn. Ltd. v. R. (2014 DTC 1021), the Tax Court of Canada (“TCC”) held that it had no jurisdiction to hear an appeal from a reassessment of arrears interest where there exists a nil…
In 2013-0474431E5, a Canadian parent company (Canco) seconded employees to its foreign affiliate (FA). The seconded employees represented 5% of the FA’s workforce engaged in providing services to arm’s length customers. The FA reimbursed Canco the cost of its…
In 2013-0512581E5, a Canadian company (Canco) sold shares of a Brazilian company (BrazilCo). The resulting gain was taxed in Brazil. The CRA said a foreign tax credit (FTC) would not be available to Canco under s. 126(1) because the…