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…
Negligence for not reviewing return
In 994552 N.W.T. Ltd. v R, 2025 TCC 55, Mr Justice Bocock considered whether the taxpayer corporation was liable to be reassessed beyond the normal reassessment period for two taxation years and for gross negligence penalties for overclaimed capital cost…
Guest post on the DTC
The following article on the disability tax credit was written by Tanya O’Connell, a former law clerk at Loukidelis Professional Corporation. The Disability Tax Credit (DTC) The DTC is a personal tax credit available under section 118.3 of the Income…
Inter-company loans
Subsection 15(1) of the Income Tax Act could apply where Aco loans money to Bco and Bco has no means of repaying the money. On the other hand, subsection 246(1) will not apply where Bco and its shareholder have no…
Change in use and flipping
The CRA has confirmed that a deemed disposition under subsection 45(1) of the Income Tax Act resulting from a change in use is not a disposition for the purposes of the flipping rules in subsections 12(12) and 12(13). See 2024-1027831C6.
Swiss bank account trouble
In Azmayesh-Fard v R, 2025 TCC 20, the Court considered whether the CRA had properly reassessed a taxpayer beyond the normal reassessment period and imposed gross negligence penalties for unreported income from a Swiss bank account and for failing to…
Price adjustment clause
An accounting colleague has reported to me on a CRA audit involving a price adjustment clause. The CRA challenged the valuation used for a transfer of property. The taxpayer and the CRA eventually agreed on a valuation that was about…
Source of income and the normal reassessment period
In Boles v R, 2024 TCC 167, the taxpayers incurred losses in respect of “Dog Activities” (breeding and selling purebred dogs and attending dog shows) and some rental properties. The Court concluded the CRA could not reassess statute-barred years for…