Faced with significant government spending to tackle Covid-19 in the UK, the UK Wealth Tax Commission was set up to explore the desirability and feasibility of a wealth tax. The final report was issued on 9th December 2020.[1] The Evidence Papers are available here.[2] The proposal was to implement a one-off wealth tax of […]
“Modernizing the General Anti-Avoidance Rule” in the Fall Economic Update: Time for An Economic Substance Doctrine?
On November 30, 2020, the Government of Canada released its Fall Economic Statement 2020. The Statement is titled “Supporting Canadians and Fighting COVID-19” and part of Chapter 4 addresses “modernizing anti-avoidance rules”. In one short paragraph, the Government of Canada expresses concerns about any complex tax structure “that does not serve an economic purpose, […]
Blueprints for A Parallel Tax Universe
Blueprints for a new international tax regime fit for the digitalizing global economy were published by the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS (the Inclusive Framework) on October 12, 2020. Because the new regime represents “global law” and introduces concepts and rules not found in existing domestic and treaty laws, a parallel tax universe is […]
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 […]
Resurrecting the Advisory Panel’s Recommendation for a Full Exemption System
For some time there has been debate about our current system of providing double tax relief for foreign-source active business income earned by Canadian corporations indirectly through foreign affiliates. In the 1970’s the drafters of the Act chose a hybrid mechanism using both the exemption and credit systems. But this requires surplus account tracking, […]
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 […]
Week in Review - October 18, 2020
Home Office Tax Deductions Simplified - More Changes May Come Yet: The Canada Revenue Agency is making changes to the Form T2200 - which is the form the CRA requires employers to sign confirming an employee’s eligibility to claim expenses - in order to simply home office tax deductions, in response to changing work […]
The Toronto Maple Leafs, The Canada Revenue Agency, and The Joy of Legal Research
Jesse McLean, a Staff Reporter with the Toronto Star, broke a seemingly lurid story late last month regarding an alleged “tax loss creation scheme” conducted by two former Toronto Maple Leafs players; Darcy Tucker and Shayne Corson. The story recounts allegations made by the Canada Revenue Agency against the two former Maple Leafs stars, […]