Personal Income Tax Measures
Tax-Free Savings Account In an effort to encourage Canadians to save, the Federal Government introduced the Tax-Free Savings Account (“TFSA”) in 2009. The TFSA is a registered, general-purpose account that allows Canadians to earn tax-free investment income. TFSAs have become...
Other Measures
IN THIS SECTION: Charities and Not-for-Profit Measures Aboriginal Tax Policy Charities and Not-for-Profit Measures The Budget includes a number of welcome proposals for donors and charities. Capital Gains Exemption Extended to Gifts of Private Shares and Real Estate Over the...
Introduction
Minister of Finance Joe Oliver today tabled the 2015 Federal Budget (the “Budget”), his first budget as Minister of Finance, entitled “Strong Leadership: A Balanced-Budget, Low-Tax Plan for Jobs, Growth and Security”. We are pleased to provide our summary of...
New Income Tax Folio – S6-F1-C1: Residence of a Trust or Estate
Effective September 19, 2014, the Canada Revenue Agency (the “CRA”) released a new Income Tax Folio on the Residence of a Trust or Estate. This Income Tax Folio (“S6-F1-CI”) replaces and cancels Interpretation Bulletin IT-447, Residence of a Trust or...
Administrative Changes to Canada Revenue Agency’s Voluntary Disclosure Program
Introduction The Canada Revenue Agency’s (the “CRA’s”) voluntary disclosure program permits taxpayers to disclose information not previously reported to the CRA in relation to the taxes payable by them for a prior taxation year. Taxpayers may also rely on the...
Surplus Stripping Limits Clarified
Although the taxpayers were largely unsuccessful in the case of Descarries v. R., 2014 TCC 75, the decision of Tax Court Judge Hogan J. provides a useful analysis of the limits to be applied to “surplus stripping” and contains much that is...
Rectification: Current Developments Regarding This Useful Judicial Remedy
Rectification is an equitable remedy that allows for judicial corrections of a document that, due to errors in drafting, does not reflect the true intentions of the parties. Rectification changes a document’s mistaken expression of that intention. Rectification is restorative,...
“Half-loaf” Gone Wrong: Gervais, G. et al. v. The Queen (“Gervais”).
A recent case from the Tax Court of Canada ruled against a taxpayer who implemented a tax plan known as the “half-loaf” plan. The purpose of a half-loaf plan is essentially to multiply the life time capital gain exemption between...
Current Changes to Testamentary Trusts and Continuing Advantages
The 2014 Federal Budget proposes to introduce a number of significant changes to the taxation of trusts and estates which will fundamentally change the landscape of estate planning. The Department of Finance (the “Department”) proposed these changes to eliminate the...
Canadian Federal Court of Appeal Finds Anti-Avoidance Rule Applicable to Foreign Affiliates Has Limited Scope
The Canadian Federal Court of Appeal (the “FCA”) recently rendered its much anticipated decision in The Queen v. Lehigh Cement Ltd. et al.[1] (“Lehigh”) which considered whether the anti-avoidance rule in paragraph 95(6)(b) of the Income Tax Act (Canada)[2] (the “Tax Act”)...
