General

Milgram Foundation v. Canada (Attorney General), 2024 FC 1405 The Applicant, the Milgram Foundation, was established in 1964 as a non-resident entity in Liechtenstein and had not filed Canadian tax returns prior to 2015. In 2015, the Foundation applied under the Canada Revenue Agency’s (“CRA”) Voluntary...

Notice of Objection & Voluntary Disclosures Program The ability to file a Notice of Objection to Notices of Re/assessment issued following a Voluntary Disclosure, governed by IC00-1R6-Voluntary Disclosures Program (“IC00-1R6”), was limited to specific circumstances. Importantly, taxpayers could not file a Notice of...

Canada Repeals Digital Services Tax Canada has decided to rescind its Digital Services Tax (DST), meaning the requirement for businesses to file DST returns and pay related amounts will be suspended until the law is officially removed. The Canada Revenue Agency has also announced it will cancel penalties and interest on...

Devon Canada Corporation v. Canada, 2015 FCA 214 Devon Canada Corporation v. Canada, 2015 FCA 214 (CanLII) concerns the scope of what comprises a Notice of Objection under the Large Corporation Rule in subsection 169(2.1). The Federal Court of Appeal (“FCA”) held that the reference to “notice of objection” in subsection...

Summary of the CRA’s Changes to the Voluntary Disclosures Program under the Income Tax Act The CRA has issued IC00-1R7 – Voluntary Disclosures Program (“IC00-1R7”), introducing several changes to the Voluntary Disclosures Program (“VDP”). Applications received on or after October 1, 2025 will be assessed under...

Practice Note 21 & the Rhetoric Practice Note No. 21 (dated November 30, 2018) is the Tax Court of Canada’s directive on how settlement conferences are to be handled. According to the Court: 1. Settlement conferences will not be scheduled unless...

The "Business" Test in Happy Valley Farms Ltd. v. The Queen, 1986 CanLII 7434 (FC) If income is characterized as business income then 100% is subject to taxation. Only 50% of a capital gain is subject to taxation. Determining whether the business income characterization applies requires referring to the definition of a...

In Northwest Hydraulic Consultants Ltd v R, 1998 CarswellNat 696, 98 DTC 1839 , the Tax Court of Canada considered whether certain scientific and technical work conducted by the appellant qualified as scientific research and experimental development (SR&ED) under the Income Tax Act, RSC 1985, c 1 (5th Supp) for the purpose of tax...

How is CRA Improving its Ability to Collect Crypto Currency Data? Currently, governments and tax agencies such as Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) are putting together a framework to better track and tax crypto currency transactions. The CRA has adopted two primary approaches to collecting data from crypto currency...

Tax Court of Canada Jurisdiction & Main Rehabilitation Co. v. Canada, 2004 FCA 403 The Tax Court of Canada does not have the jurisdiction to consider issues of abuse of process. Its jurisdiction is limited to determining the correctness of  a tax assessment. For example, the Tax Court cannot set aside an assessment...