On October 29, 2024, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) issued a release stating that it will not require bare trusts to file trust returns for the 2024 tax year, continuing the administrative exemption that was granted for the...more
With the enactment of Bill C-47 on June 22, 2023, Canada's enhanced mandatory disclosure rules are now fully in effect. These rules, which were first announced in the 2021 Canadian federal budget...more
In November 2022, we wrote about the federal government's proposal in the 2022 Fall Economic Statement to tax share buybacks by public corporations in our blog, Canada Proposes New Tax On Share Buybacks. At the time, few...more
The 2023 Canadian Federal Budget, released March 28, 2023 (Budget 2023), proposes significant amendments to expand the application of Canada's general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR). These proposals come after the federal...more
The federal government's 2022 Fall Economic Statement (Economic Statement), released on November 3, 2022, introduced a new tax on share buybacks by public corporations in Canada. Under the proposal, which would come into...more
Bare trusts across Canada could soon be required to file annual returns with the Canada Revenue Agency, or face large penalties for failing to report....more
Multinational corporations, cross-border investments and many other Canadian public and private enterprises, will likely soon face a new and complex interest expense deduction limitation in Canada....more
On November 26, 2021, the Supreme Court of Canada (the SCC) released its highly anticipated decision in Canada v Alta Energy Luxembourg SARL, 2021 SCC 49 [Alta Energy Lux], that addressed treaty-based holding structures and...more
The Federal Government has backtracked on its plan to delay the application of Bill C-208, a private member's bill aimed at facilitating intergenerational transfers of small businesses and farms. Until at least November 1,...more
Bill C-208, a private member's bill aimed at facilitating intergenerational transfers of small businesses and farms, received Royal Assent and became law on June 29, 2021. Just one day later, on June 30, 2021, the Federal...more
A private member's bill aimed at facilitating intergenerational transfers of small businesses and farms has moved one step closer to becoming law. After passing third reading in the House of Commons on May 12, 2021, with 199...more
The 2021 Canadian Federal Budget, released on April 19, 2021, proposes new rules that would fundamentally alter the interest deductibility landscape for Canadian businesses. The thrust of the new rules (referred to herein as...more
The clock is ticking for multinational enterprises and private equity firms with investments in the Canadian resource sector as anti-treaty shopping measures in the OECD's Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty...more
On June 29, 2020, the Government of Alberta introduced Alberta's Recovery Plan which will, among other things, reduce Alberta's general corporate income tax rate to 8%, effective July 1, 2020....more
This piece was updated on April 2, 2020.
As part of Canada's COVID-19 Economic Response Plan announced on March 18, 2020, and through subsequent press releases, the Department of Finance and the Canada Revenue Agency have...more
On February 12, 2020, the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) in Canada v Alta Energy Luxembourg S.A.R.L., 2020 FCA 43 [Alta Lux] concluded that the Canada-Luxembourg tax treaty (Can-Lux Treaty) was not abused when a Luxembourg...more
2/27/2020
/ Anti-Avoidance ,
Capital Gains ,
Corporate Taxes ,
GAAR ,
Income Taxes ,
International Tax Issues ,
OECD ,
Principal Purpose Test ,
Private Equity Firms ,
Tax Treaty ,
Withholding Tax
On October 30, 2019, the British Columbia Court of Appeal upheld the rectification of an erroneously calculated capital dividend account, saving the corporate taxpayer from a punitive 60% tax. ...more
On August 29, 2019, Canada completed its domestic ratification of the OECD-sponsored Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (the MLI). As noted in our...more
On May 29, 2019, Darcy Moch, Greg Johnson and Jared Mackey of Bennett Jones participated on a witness panel before the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade to discuss the application of Bill...more
5/31/2019
/ Anti-Avoidance ,
BEPS ,
Canada ,
Capital Gains ,
Energy Sector ,
Foreign Investment ,
International Tax Issues ,
OECD ,
Private Equity Firms ,
Tax Treaty ,
Withholding Tax
Tax-efficient holding structures commonly used by multinational enterprises and private equity firms investing in the Canadian resource sector could soon become subject to anti-treaty shopping measures contained in the...more
4/4/2019
/ Anti-Avoidance ,
Capital Gains ,
Foreign Investment ,
International Tax Issues ,
Multilateral Agreement ,
OECD ,
Principal Purpose Test ,
Private Equity Firms ,
Ratification ,
Tax Agreements ,
Tax Treaty
The 2019 Canadian federal budget was released on March 19, 2019 (Budget Day). As many of the proposals are aimed at investing in Canada’s middle class, the Budget was relatively light on proposals affecting businesses....more
3/25/2019
/ BEPS ,
Canada ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Federal Budget ,
Foreign Affiliates ,
Mutual Funds ,
Privately Held Corporations ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Tax Avoidance ,
Tax Treaty
Overview of Rule 26 -
Section 26 of the Tax Court of Canada Rules (General Procedure)1 (the "Tax Court Rules"), referred to as "Rule 26", can be useful where multiple taxpayers are involved in related matters and are...more
The Federal Budget, released February 27, 2018, has clarified federal plans to change the tax treatment of private corporations and represents a substantial retreat from proposals announced in July 2017. In July 2017, the...more
On July 18, 2017, Minister of Finance Bill Morneau announced sweeping changes to the way private businesses and their shareholders are taxed. The Government's proposals encompass three broad areas: (1) income sprinkling...more
Two recent decisions of the Tax Court involving the general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR), Univar Holdco Canada ULC v The Queen, 2016 TCC 159 [Univar] and Oxford Properties Group Inc v The Queen, 2016 TCC 204 [Oxford...more