What is the taxpayer relief application? When a taxpayer cannot meet tax payment deadlines or fulfill other obligations set by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) due to personal misfortune or uncontrollable circumstances, penalties and interest are typically imposed by the CRA. Luckily, subsection 220(3.1) of the Income Tax Act...
Introduction: The Tax Risks of Overcontributing to an RRSP A Registered Retirement Savings Plan (“RRSP”) is the first and most powerful tax planning tool for many Canadians planning for retirement. Any income that is earned on investments held in an RRSP (e.g. dividends) is not taxable in the hands...
Introduction: Rectification & Its Tax Consequences Rectification is an equitable remedy. It allows parties to correct drafting errors that would otherwise render a legal instrument incompatible with the agreement that the instrument was meant to document. In these cases, the contracting parties may ask a court to rectify the...
Introduction – Digital Payment Services and Financial Reporting Obligations Digital payment services like those offered by PayPal, which are used to facilitate money transfers domestically and internationally, are now well-integrated into our personal and professional lives. Whether your PayPal account is used for genuine commercial purposes, however, or for...
Background on Directors Liability for Taxes: The Tax Court of Canada has recently decided a case regarding director’s liability for unremitted GST/HST. Generally, a director of a corporation can be held personally liable to CRA for various corporate liabilities such as unremitted GST and HST, as well as unremitted...
What are Net Worth Tax Audits? A net worth audit is an indirect tax audit technique used by the Canada Revenue Agency or CRA where it has cause to believe the taxpayer’s usual records are not an accurate reflection of the taxpayer’s income. To conduct a net worth audit,...
Introduction: Enforcement of the Canadian Tax System As the Canadian tax system is based upon taxpayers self-assessing and self-reporting their income, to protect the integrity and fairness of the system, various enforcement mechanisms are in place to ensure compliance. For those who do not comply with the provisions of...
Introduction: The Canada Revenue Agency’s Overzealous Use of Gross-Negligence Penalties Gross-negligence penalties aim to punish taxpayers whose conduct “involves a high degree of negligence tantamount to intentional acting, an indifference as to whether the law is complied with or not”: Venne v R., 84 DTC 6247. As such, the amount...
Introduction to the Relevant Law on TFSA Over-Contribution and Non-Resident Contribution Before discussing the case of Ifi v. Canada (Attorney General), 2020 FC 1150, an introduction to the underlying law is necessary to provide context. Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs) are popular savings and investment tools for Canadians. A taxpayer...
Money transferred from a corporation to its shareholder was reassessed as shareholder benefits This case was a split decision with the taxpayer’s Canadian tax lawyer winning the argument against gross negligence penalties but losing with respect to statute barred years. Mr. Deyab and his spouse carried out engineering consulting...