In Daniel Sze “Receipts from Fraudulent Schemes: When Are They Taxable?” Canadian Tax Focus 16:3 (August 2026), the author gives an overview of cases that have considered the taxation of amounts a taxpayer receives from a fraudulent “investment”. He notes…
Case law update
The following are my notes on a case law update from Sal Mirandola given at an OBA taxation law presentation on September 22, 2020 (“Advising your clients amidst financial uncertainty: Summer 2020 tax developments”) For the paper, see ~\Knowledge\Seminar materials\2020…
Shareholder agreements and de jure control
Will a shareholder agreement that permits a minority shareholder to elect the majority of the corporation’s board confer control on the minority shareholder? The Tax Court in Kruger Wayagamack Inc. v R, 2015 TCC 90, said not if the minority…
Alberta trust vindicated
What does it take to make an Alberta trust “work” in light of Fundy Settlement v Canada, 2012 SCC 14? From Colin Poon, “Interprovincial Tax Planning Using Trusts Upheld”, Canadian Tax Focus 5:3 (August 2015) re Discovery Trust v Canada…
SCC dismisses Guindon appeal
The Supreme Court has dismissed the taxpayer’s appeal in Guindon v R, 2015 SCC 41.
Variation not retroactive
One of the beneficiaries of a 1995 trust, the settlor’s daughter-in-law, died unexpectedly in 2009. The settlor’s son was also a beneficiary of the trust but only for capital. He purported to begin taking income in 2009 anyway. The settlor…
GAAP working papers
BP Canada Energy Company, for its audited financial statements under GAAP, had to “calculate reserves to account for contingent tax liabilities. Those calculations include an estimate of the liability BP would face if the Minister were to challenge…
Spousal rollover denied
In Murphy Estate v R, 2015 TCC 8, the Tax Court denied the spousal rollover where a consent order issued in the family law context seemed to provide for the transfer of the RRSP to the spouse from the children…
Claming ABILs
A husband who is an employee but not a shareholder of Opco cannot claim an ABIL for amounts loaned interest-free to Opco (even though his wife is the sole shareholder of Opco). The husband’s employment income does not mean that…
Refund not refunded
What happens when a corporation fails to claim refundable tax in a timely manner? Does the amount not refunded reduce RDTOH anyway (per the CRA)? Not according to the Court in Presidential MSH Corporation v R, 2015 TCC 61. (See…