Bell was denied favourable goods and services tax (“GST”) treatment of its purchase of electricity, which was determined to be a single supply for the purpose of claiming input tax credits (“ITCs”) under the Excise Tax Act, RSC 1985, c E-15 [ETA]. In Bell Telephone Company of Canada v. Canada, 2025 FCA 27 [Bell Canada], The Federal Court of Appeal (“FCA”) […]
Loyalty point programs demonstrate that, for GST/HST purposes, a payment can be received in its entirety as both a commercial and exempt amount. The Federal Court of Appeal (“FCA”) recently allowed an appeal brought by President’s Choice Bank (“PC Bank”) in President’s Choice Bank v Canada, 2024 FCA 135 [President’s Choice]. The decision permitted PC […]
Questions on tax jurisdiction currently cause headaches for many taxpayers attempting to resolve a tax issue. It can be difficult to determine whether the Tax Court of Canada (“TCC”) or Federal Court (“FC”) is the correct jurisdiction for the appeal to be heard. This jurisdictional ambiguity has led to taxpayers concurrently commencing proceedings in both […]
In Deans Knight Income Corp. v Canada, 2023 SCC 16, (“Deans Knight”) the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC” or “the Court”) dismissed the taxpayer’s appeal, holding that the General Anti-Avoidance Rule (“GAAR”) under s. 245 of the Income Tax Act, RSC 1985, c 1 (5th supp) (“ITA” or “the Act"), applied to a series of […]
Introduction The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) bifurcated 8-1 in Canada (Attorney General) v Collins Family Trust, 2022 SCC 26 (“Collins”) with Brown J writing for the majority and Côté J dissenting. The SCC majority allowed the Crown’s appeal from the British Columbia Court of Appeal (“BCCA”) concerning the tax planning and the Income Tax […]
The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) will soon comment on the jurisdictional contours of the Tax Court of Canada (“TCC”) and Federal Court of Canada (“FCC”). The SCC has granted leave to appeal in Canada v Dow Chemical Canada ULC, 2022 FCA 70 [Dow Chemical Canada], where the Federal Court of Appeal (“FCA”) ruled that s. 247(10) of the Income Tax Act, RSC 1985, c 1 (5th Supp) [ITA] is not within the exclusive jurisdiction of the TCC (Dow Chemical Canada, para 5).
In Des Groseillers v Quebec (Agence du revenu), 2022 SCC 42, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) unanimously confirmed the Quebec Court of Appeal’s also-unanimous holding in Agence du revenu du Québec v Des Groseillers, 2021 QCCA 906 that employee stock options constituted taxable income. Pursuant to Article 50 of Québec’s Taxation Act (“Tax Act”), an employee who disposes of stock options […]
The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) granted leave to Deans Knight Income Corporation (“Deans Knight”) on March 10th, 2022 to appeal a Federal Court of Appeal (“FCA”) decision from August 4th, 2021. The SCC will hear the appeal case, Deans Knight Income Corporation v Her Majesty the Queen, on November 2nd, 2022. The appeal concerns […]
In Canada v Alta Energy Luxembourg S.A.R.L., 2021 SCC 49 [Alta Energy], the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) unanimously held that taxpayers are entitled to arrange their affairs under international tax treaties to minimize their liability. These arrangements – also referred to as ‘treaty-shopping’ – will not necessarily be considered abusive unless the absence of […]
In Canada v. Canada North Group Inc., 2021 SCC 30 [Canada v CNG], the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) considered whether courts can order a super-priority charge that takes primacy over Her Majesty’s interest under s. 227(4.1) of the Income Tax Act, RSC 1985, c 1 (5th Supp.) [ITA]. The decision turned on robust statutory […]