The CRA has clarified that the subparagraph 55(5)(e)(i) exception for siblings will apply where the shares of either the distributing corporation (DC) or the transferee corporation (TC) (not both) need be quaified small business corporation shares or shares of a…
Objections for large corporations
A corporation is a “large corporation” if its taxable capital, and that of any related corporation, employed in Canada exceeds $10 million (a limit that has not changed since it was set in 2006). Per subsection 165(1.11), a large corporation…
Pleading away privilege
In One York Street Inc. v 2360083 Ontario Limited, 2026 ONCA 176, the Court held that, by putting in issue its state of mind on signing a lease where the state of mind was based in part on legal advice,…
Build Canada announcements
Oslers has a couple of good posts on its website—here and here—about tax-related “Canada strong” announcements. The CRA, when considering advance tax rulings, will prioritize “nation-building projects”, and the Income Tax Act (Canada) will be amended to permit a new…
TFSA advantage “tax” is a-ok
I just wrote about TFSA over-contribution hell. The Federal Court of Appeal recently confirmed that the advantage “tax” is constitutional under section 53 of the Constitution Act, 1867 and that no due-diligence defence is available because it is a tax.…
GLGI appeals struck
In a previous post, I discussed Kelly v R, 2026 TCC 53, in which Mr Justice Graham proposed to dismiss ongoing GLGI appeals as an abuse of process. Eight of the appellants to whom this proposal applied provided submissions for…
Revisiting Stewart and Walls, again
A number of commentators, including Justice John Owen, have expressed unease with the reasoning of the Federal Court of Appeal in R v Paletta (Estate), 2022 FCA 86, and Brown v R, 2022 FCA 200. They might say “I told…
Allegation of Sham Trust Allocation
In Fiducie Famille Champoux c Agence du revenu du Québec, 2026 QCCQ 2430, Revenue Quebec had alleged a sham where a trust allocated to a beneficiary $800,000 of a $950,000 gain realized on the sale of shares. The beneficiary’s husband…
Contributions to a testamentary trust
Contributions to an estate or testamentary trust (in this article, an “estate” for short) by anyone other than the testator can vitiate the estate’s status as such. See paragraph 108(1) “testamentary trust” (b) of the Income Tax Act (Canada). Such…
Related siblings under section 55
At the 2025 APFF conference, the CRA stated that the sisters in the following scenario would be related as per subparagraph 55(5)(e)(i): Sister A and Sister B each owned 100 percent of the shares of their respective holding corporations, whose…