Articles 2020

This article considers the interplay between section 80.4, subsection 15(2) and paragraph 20(1)(j) of the Income Tax Act (Canada).

AgraCity Ltd. successfully appealed to the Tax Court of Canada from the Minister’s reassessment of its 2007 and 2008 taxation years. AgraCity had entered into a service agreement with a non-arm’s length Barbadian corporation to provide promotional and administrative services in respect of herbicide sales to Canadian farmers.

Manjit is a partner in the tax group at Miller Thomson. She received her law degree from the University of Toronto and was called to the Bar in 2000. Manjit advises on Canadian and cross-border tax matters to public and private companies, partnerships, trusts, private equity and infrastructure funds, pension plans and sovereign wealth funds.

Kathryn Walker discusses strategies for salvaging underwater stock options.

Randy Schwartz and Seth Lim report on the recent Tax Court case Zomaron Inc. v. The Queen (2020 TCC 35).

Under new Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (“CEWS”) legislation, non-arm’s length parties which transact with each other using arm’s length terms – as often required by the Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) – are penalized unfairly. This is the result of a definition in the formula which erroneously refers to the “current reference period” when it should refer to the period immediately prior to the “current reference period."

This article provides a high level overview on the advantages of implementing an estate freeze when the value of businesses has declined due to the novel Coronavirus.

On April 17, 2020, the Department of Finance released legislative proposals to amend certain income tax measures intended to support Canadian journalism organizations (these measures were previously introduced in the 2019 Federal Budget). This article reviews and comments on the impact of the proposed legislative amendments.