*This is an updated post that reflects helpful comments on the earlier post provided by a number of friends and colleagues who share my interest in this case and indeed the law more broadly. "Loblaws" is an established Canadian grocer. It markets a comprehensive line of high quality products and services, including financial services, […]
Featured Cases
The Taxpayer is Successful Today at the Supreme Court in the Important Alta Energy "Treaty Shopping" Case - Updated
What is "treaty shopping"? It is an often used and disparaging phrase in international tax practice. But, in fact few really know what it means, contrasted with what for various reasons they want it to mean. Today, we have a much better idea of what "treaty shopping" is not. We are also reminded in […]
A Couple of More Thoughts on “Hiding in Plain Sight? Changes to “Transfer Pricing” and the GAAR"
I do not know what “good form” is for commenting on one’s own blog post. But it does strike me that some elaboration may be helpful on the suggestion in that blog, to infuse the Canadian GAAR (and its sentiments applied in transfer pricing) with a statutory reflection of the United Kingdom GAAR’s explicit […]
The Cameco Transfer Pricing Appeal Ends Today
The Cameco Corporation transfer pricing decisions of the Tax Court of Canada and the Federal Court of Appeal are seminal, not just for Canadian taxation but internationally. The case wrestles with the interaction of private law constructions that lie at the heart of corporate and business organization, on the one hand, and the international […]
"Characterization", "Unbundling" and the Nature of "The Transaction"
On January 22, 2021, the Federal Court of Appeal delivered its decision in a GST/HST case concerning whether certain fees paid by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce were for "financial" or "administrative" services (Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce v. The Queen, 2021 FCA 10). The former, "financial services" are exempt from the GST/HST, […]
Are Gig Workers Independent Contractors or Employees?
On November 3, 2020, Californians approved Proposition 22 exempting gig companies from legislation classifying their workers as employees. The ballot initiative was the most expensive in the State’s history with Uber and its allies spending over $200 million to achieve 58% of the vote. It undermines Assembly Bill 5, which presumes workers to be […]
Things Go Better with Coca-Cola? Well, Maybe Not Always
On Wednesday November 18, 2020, the United States Tax Court, via the pen of a very able Judge, issued the decision in a very important transfer pricing case, The Coca-Cola Company & Subsidiaries, Petitioner v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Respondent, 155 T.C. No. 10. Caution is always required in reading the tax decisions of […]
The Supreme Court's Accumulating Tax Brief - To What End?
A question that has lingered through the Summer and into the Fall has been answered in the last couple of days. Leave of the Supreme Court of Canada has been sought by the tax authorities to appeal the Federal Court of Appeal's early Summer decision in Cameco. If the Supreme Court grants leave, it […]
Case Comment: Gladwin Realty Corporation v Canada (2020 FCA 142) A Narrow Approach to What Constitutes Abuse of SAAR
In Gladwin Realty Corporation v Canada (2020 FCA 142), the Federal Court of Appeal upheld the Tax Court's finding of abuse relying on a GAAR analysis. However, the FCA reached its conclusion in a slightly different way than the Tax Court. The difference is indicated in two interesting comments that the Court made. One […]
Case Summary: R. v. Schouw (2020 BCCA 232)
On August 7, 2020, the British Columbia Court of Appeal (the “Court”) upheld a lower court decision that convicted a real estate designer and developer for willfully evading Goods and Sales Tax (“GST”). The case addresses “deliberation” of a taxpayer in tax matters such that, in a case like this, it may be concluded […]