General

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...

Choptiany v. The King, 2022 TCC 112 The case of Choptiany v. The King, 2022 TCC 112 involved a tax scheme promoted by DeMara Consulting Inc. and Fiscal Arbitrators. It centered on convincing some taxpayers to unwittingly claim fictitious business losses and expenses to create large tax refunds. The Canada Revenue Agency...

Director Liability & Resignation Under certain circumstances, directors of a corporation can be held personally liable for the tax arrears of a corporation. This is referred to as director liability and one defense is that the Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) must assess a director within 2 years of resignation. Hence,...

Tax Law Services Portfolio - Memorandum of Understanding The Department of Justice (DOJ) in Canada primarily represents the Crown, not the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) as an independent entity. How it works:The CRA is a federal agency responsible for tax administration.When legal matters arise (such as tax disputes or...

Eligible Canadian Public Corporations & SR&ED Historically, only Canadian Controlled Private Corporations (“CCPC”) have been eligible to claim Scientific Research & Experimental Development (“SR&ED”) tax incentives. However, now eligible Canadian public corporations (i.e., publicly‑listed...

Swift v. The Queen, 2020 TCC 115 & Coates v. The Queen, 2011 TCC 74 & GST/HST In Ontario, for example, many taxpayers bought and/or renovated homes consecutively during the housing upturn. Consequently, it has been common for Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) to target the consecutive purchase and sale of 3 or 4 homes...

Understanding Reprisal Complaints Against the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) employees have enormous individual discretion facilitated by the law.  It was only relatively recently that Canadians were able to complain to a third-party, a service complaints division. Before that complaints were...

Taxable Canadian Property (TCP) & Section 116 Taxable Canadian Property refers to specific types of Canadian assets that, when sold or transferred by a non-resident of Canada, may trigger Canadian tax obligations. Section 116 of the Income Tax Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. 1 (5th Supp.)) establishes the reporting and...

Subsection 164(1) – Refunds or Credits on Overpayment of Taxes Subsection 164(1) of the Income Tax Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. 1 (5th Supp.)) primarily deals with the refund or credit of taxes paid in excess. Specifically, it governs how the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) handles situations where a taxpayer has paid more tax than...

Understanding Trust Amounts and CRA Collections When running a business, understanding your responsibilities around trust amounts and how the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) handles collections is crucial. Failing to manage these obligations properly can lead to audits, penalties, and aggressive collection action. This article...