On September 4, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed a taxpayer's application for leave to appeal in the matter of Rita Congiu et autre c. Agence du revenu du Québec et autre(35830/35833).
DOING BUSINESS IN ALBERTA
November 2013
© Davis LLP 2013 i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 1
B. GOVERNMENT AND LEGAL SYSTEM ......................................................................................... 1
C. TYPES OF BUSINESS ORGANIZATION ....................................................................................... 2
- Historical Background
Unlike the United States, Canada was not created by a unilateral declaration of independence from the colonial occupation of England.
Except where otherwise noted, this paper is current as of September, 2011 and provides preliminary information on Canadian and British Columbia legal matters to assist you in establishing a business in British Columbia and provides general guidance only.
The British Columbia case of Botham Holdings Ltd. (Trustee of) v. Braydon Investments Ltd. is a reminder that tax and estate plans must take non-tax issues and law into account. It can be extremely dangerous to let the tax tail wag the dog!
Mr. Botham and a family trust were the shareholders of Botham Holdings Ltd. ("Holdings"). In 2004 Holdings was fortunate enough to realize a large capital gain and, as a result, incurred a significant income tax liability.
We have prepared this Business Law Guide as a general overview of certain legal and business matters that may be relevant to a decision to establish or invest in a business in Canada.
In the recent decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Toronto-Dominion Bank and Her Majesty the Queen (2012 SCC 1), the Supreme Court succinctly agreed with the reasons of Justice Noël of the Federal Court of Appeal.
In a succinct decision rendered on January 12, the same day as the hearing, the Supreme Court of Canada finally settled the question of whether requirements to pay, issued pursuant to section 317 of the Excise Tax Act ("ETA") prior to the bankruptcy of a tax debtor, but not paid before such time, remain valid against the garnishee.1 Supreme Court Justice LeBel, speaking on behalf of the Court, simply stated that the Court agreed with the reasons of Noël J.A. of the Federal Court of Appeal.
On August 19, 2011, the Federal Minister of Finance released a significant package of proposed amendments to Canada’s income tax rules applicable to Canadian multinational corporations with foreign affiliates (the Proposals). The Proposals apply to most distributions from, and reorganizations of, foreign subsidiaries of Canadian corporations and contain new rules applicable to certain loans received from foreign subsidiaries that remain outstanding for at least two years, among other significant changes. In addition to certain important new measures, the Proposals replace numero
Unremitted source deductions are subject to a deemed trust in favour of the Crown under Section 227 of the Income Tax Act (the “ITA”), Section 86 of theEmployment Insurance Act (the “EIA”) and Section 23 of the Canada Pension Plan (the “CPP”). Subsection 227(4) of the ITA creates the trust for income tax deductions and Subsection 227(4.1) creates a super-priority lien in favour of the Crown, in the amount of the trust, over all the debtor’s assets.