On January 1, 2023, a newly-formed personal trust purchased shares of Opco from Dad, who owned them throughout the preceding two years. The trust sold the shares on June 30, 2023, to an unrelated person. The CRA found that the…
TOSI and a power of attorney
Son is the owner of 10 out of 100 issued Common Shares in the capital of Opco, which are the only issued shares of the corporation. Son grants a power of attorney to his father to exercise all rights to…
Vefghi appeal allowed
The Federal Court of Appeal has allowed the Crown’s appeal and dismissed the cross-appeal of one of the taxpayers in Vefghi Holding Corp. v R, 2023 TCC 135, which I discussed here. See R v Vefghi Holding Corporation, 2025 FCA…
De facto control and IGT rules
If Son’s Buyco issues a note to his parents for the purchase of all of the shares of Opco, would the parents have de facto control of Buyco and Opco because of the note? The CRA said they would, if…
Donation tax shelters
Cases relating to donation tax shelters continue to pop up from time to time, and the hapless taxpayers are not having much success. The more recent cases generally focus on whether the taxpayers should be entitled to a tax credit…
Mail room affidavits
In Zampieri v R, 2025 TCC 25—which is yet another limitation period case from Mr Justice Bocock—one issue was whether the CRA had sent notices of confirmation and reassessment on the dates printed on them. Mr Justice Bocock was not…
Canada Child Benefit and Shared Custody
In Wong v R, 2025 TCC 24 (informal procedure), Mr Justice Bocock provided a helpful road map of the surprisingly complicated rules relating to shared custody and entitlement to the Canada Child Benefit.
Misdirected assessment
Poor Mr Lam trusted his tenant to forward important mail while Mr Lam was out of the country, but the tenant left a 2016 HST assessment in a pile of junk mail. Mr Lam didn’t become aware of the assessment…
50-50 shareholders and s 160; directors and independent contractors
McCague v R, 2025 TCC 59, is another section 160 case where 50/50 shareholders caused their corporation to pay them dividends at a time when it owed taxes. The Court held that section 160 applied and summarized the law in…
Preliminary vs preparatory expenses
In Lienaux v R, 2025 TCC 67 (informal procedure), the Court referred to Vesuna v R, 2022 FCA 58, and Gartry v R, 1994 CanLII 19352 (TCC), in denying expenses incurred where the taxpayer had not actually started to carry…