The Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") recently dismissed leave to the Federal Court of Appeal's ("FCA") decision of Her Majesty the Queen. v. Cameco Corporation, 2020 FCA 112 [Cameco]. The FCA ruled in favour of the taxpayer, Cameco Corporation (“Cameco”), and rejected the Crown's broad interpretation of paragraphs 247(2)(b) and (d) of the Income Tax […]
The Federal Court of Appeal (the "FCA") recently released its decision on Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce v The Queen, 2021 FCA 10 [CIBC]. The FCA overturned the lower court's decision and allowed the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce ("CIBC") to claim rebates on taxes that it accidentally paid on supplies made by Visa Canada […]
The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) is usually timid to grant leave to tax law cases. However, earlier this year, we saw the SCC decide MacDonald v. Canada 2020 SCC 6. (You can find our case comment on MacDonald here.) The SCC also granted leave to Canada v. Alta Energy Luxembourg S.A.R.L. 2020 FCA 43 […]
Since the creation of the Income Tax Act ("ITA"), there have been taxpayers trying to avoid taxes in any manner possible. Although taxpayers are free to arrange their matters in the most tax-efficient way, there is a line between "tax efficient" and "tax abusive" planning. The General Anti-Avoidance Rules (the "GAAR"), as defined in section […]
Taxpayers try to characterize their expenses, gains, and losses in a way that benefits them. Thus, the characterization of expenses, gains, or losses as on account income or capital has always been a major theme of tax law disputes. One such dispute was addressed in MacDonald v. Canada, 2020 SCC 6 [MacDonald], a decision by […]
As the two official languages of Canada, French and English form the bedrock of our legal system, and their usage is a constitutionally protected right found in both the Constitution Act, 1867 (“Constitution”) and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (“Charter”). With such a high level of recognition and protection, one might assume the […]
Earlier this summer, charity and not-for-profit law hit a milestone in Canada Without Poverty v Attorney General of Canada, 2018 ONSC 4147 [Canada Without Poverty], when Justice Edward Morgan of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (“SCJ”) ruled that s 149.1(6.2) of the Income Tax Act, RSC 1985, c 1 [ITA] is an unconstitutional violation of charities’ […]
When corporate lawyers choose to exchange information with opposing counsel, they do so with a view towards a smooth and confidential closing of their client’s transaction. In particular, the promise of confidentiality is granted by the doctrine of “common interest privilege”. Privilege protects all communications between a professional legal adviser and their clients from being disclosed […]
The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) has recently delivered two companion judgments, Canada (Attorney General) v Fairmont Hotels Inc., 2016 SCC 56 [Fairmont] and Jean Coutu Group (PJC) Inc. v Canada (Attorney General), 2016 SCC 55 [Jean Coutu], that substantially restrict the availability of the rectification remedy in Canada.
"Canada has never come to terms with First Nations people and our special place within the fabric of this country." - Doug Cuthand The recent Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) decision in Musqueam Indian Band v. Musqueam Indian Band (Board of Review) 2016 SCC 36 (“Musqueam Indian Band”) represents a powerful pronouncement on the ability of […]