A fundamental tenet of Canadian tax law, as stated in Commissioners of Inland Revenue v. Duke of Westminster, [1936] A.C. 1 (H.L.), is that a taxpayer is entitled to make any lawful arrangement that he or she sees fit in order to reduce his or her liability to tax. The General Anti-Avoidance Rule (”GAAR”), at s. [...]

The only surprising thing about the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision in Quebec (Revenue) v. Caisse populaire Desjardins de Montmagny, 2009 SCC 49, is that the Quebec Superior Court at first instance found in favour of the Crown in all three cases from which the appeals arose.
The issue in C.P. Desjardins de Montmagny was [...]

Offshore trusts have become an essential element of successful tax planning. Trusts are used as tax planning vehicles as they are considered a separate legal entity from the individual. Thus, the income and assets of the trust are excluded from the individual’s estate for tax purposes. A previously successful, but now uncertain, strategy had used [...]

In its recent decision in Caisse Populaire Desjardins de L’est de Drummond v. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, 2009 SCC 29, the Supreme Court considered a controversial topic in insolvency law: federal deemed trusts as they are applicable to payroll deduction. Justice Rothstein, writing for the majority, concurred with the Federal Court of Appeal [...]

As the tax deadline of April 30th for most corporations has passed, some corporations have paid their taxes, others have claimed a refund and others like United Parcel Services (UPS) have paid their taxes and claimed it back as an error. The journey of United Parcel Services v. Canada, 2009 SCC 20, through the hierarchy [...]

Following on the heels of last month’s SCC decision in Lipson v. Canada, Quebec’s Finance Ministry has announced plans to implement further legislative measures to curb aggressive tax planning. Its Working Paper on Aggressive Tax Planning (Document de consultation des planifications fiscales agressives) can be found here. Among its more interesting proposals is the [...]

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of Canada issued a decisive ruling that clarifies once and for all that the interest paid on a mortgage taken out to purchase a principal residence cannot be tax deductible under any circumstances (unless part of the house is used for business purposes.)
The ruling in the case of Lipson [...]

My colleague Julian Ho has already provided a succinct summary of last Thursday’s Supreme Court decision in Lipson v. Canada, 2009 SCC 1, so today I thought I’d comment briefly on the general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) and the Court’s adoption of a purposive approach in determining whether a transaction or series of transaction is abusive. [...]

Yesterday, the SCC released their first decision of the new year – a decision which may have broad implications on the tax planning of many Canadians. The case, Lipson v. Canada, 2009 SCC 1, deals with the legality of a set of transactions which culminated in the deduction of mortgage loan interest payments for [...]

Faced with two different readings of the law and two different reading of the facts, one is inclined to read Redeemer Foundation v. Canada (National Revenue), 2008 SCC 46, twice (if not more to write a commentary about it). At issue was whether “the Minister was required under s. 231.2(2) of the Income Tax Act, [...]