Category Archives: Canada

Analysis, British Columbia, Canada, Ontario, Quebec

Panama Papers data leak will prompt more tax audits targeting wealthy Canadians

A huge data leak from a Panama-based law firm has exposed billions in secret, offshore transactions involving multiple political leaders around the world and approximately 350 Canadians with offshore tax haven investments.

Previous leaks of offshore activities have led the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to engage in multiple tax audits targeting wealthy Canadians, such as clients of the LGT Bank, the Swiss HSBC Bank, and recently clients of one international accounting firm, just to name a few. This time should be no different. CRA was already instructed to get the leaked data in Panama Papers.

Many OECD-participating countries have engaged in a fight against tax evasion, treaty shopping and base erosion and profit-shifting (BEPS). Combined with the upcoming exchanges of financial information between countries starting in 2017 and 2018, Canada’s “new” offshore tax compliance section since 2013 and the offshore tax informant program (OTIP) rewarding whistleblowers, wealthy Canadians and businesses engaged in aggressive tax planning are more likely than ever to be audited.

In addition, the 2016 Federal budget proposed a plan to “improve tax compliance, prevent underground economic activity, tax evasion and aggressive tax planning,” requiring an investment of $444.4 million over five years to be used by the CRA for:

  • hiring additional auditors and specialists
  • developing robust business intelligence infrastructure
  • increasing audit activities
  • improving the quality of investigative work that targets criminal tax evaders

The expected additional revenue from such measures is $2.6 billion.

To most Canadians, these measures may sound perfectly legitimate. But many taxpayers in the province of Québec will hear a familiar tune that evokes unpleasant memories.

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Analysis, Canada

Tax Residency of Trusts in Canada: Application of the Central Management and Control Test Post-Garron

Canadian and provincial income taxes are assessed on worldwide income on the basis of a taxpayer’s residence. Subsection 104(2) of the Income Tax Act (the “Tax Act”) provides that a trust is deemed to be an “individual” for purposes of the Tax Act. Consequently, trusts that are resident in Canada or deemed to be resident in Canada will be taxed on their worldwide income as opposed to only their Canadian source income. Despite the tax implications accompanying a taxpayer’s residency status, the Tax Act provides little in the way of guidance for determining the residency of a trust. As a result, Canadian courts have been tasked with making this determination.

Central Management and Control

In 2009, Garron Family Trust (Trustee of) v. R.[1] changed the long-standing approach to determining the residency of trusts in Canada.[2] The test set out in Garron provides that the residency of a trust is where the central management and control of the trust actually takes place.[3] The court clarified that the assessment into who has central management and control is a question of fact to be examined on a case by case basis. In concluding that the central management and control of the Summersby and Fundy trusts (the “S&F Trusts”) resided with the beneficiaries, the court considered several factors, including:

  • Whether the evidence or lack of evidence demonstrated an active or passive role taken by the trustee in its management of the trust;
  • The true controlling minds behind investment decisions and management of the S&F Trusts’ assets;
  • The use of a protector mechanism to exert control over the trustee;
  • The beneficiaries’ demonstrated interest in the trustee’s management of the S&F Trusts;
  • The trustee’s expertise in managing trusts; and
  • The trustee’s knowledge of the transactions it had been asked to approve.

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Analysis, Canada, Europe, Quebec

Swiss accounts : until December 31, 2015 to disclose

The United States came down hard on Swiss banks after receiving, from various whistleblowers, Swiss bank data evidencing U.S. citizens had hidden fortunes in Swiss accounts. Swiss banks were fined billions for assisting U.S. citizens in evading taxes and now want to avoid repetition of this scenario when the exchange of information begins in 2018 with other countries.

The automatic exchange of information between Canada and Switzerland will begin in 2018[i]. Swiss banks have therefore put in place various measures to protect themselves and show, in a near future, that they did all they could to encourage Canadian clients to disclose offshore assets.

Most large Swiss banks have already requested from their Canadian clients evidence that their Swiss accounts are reported in Canada or that a voluntary disclosure has been initiated. This is generally done by having a tax professional confirm to the bank that a disclosure of the account has been filed for the client with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

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Alerts, Canada

Stock Option Taxation Update

The newly elected federal Liberal government ran on the promise of several personal income tax reforms. The majority of the personal income tax reforms promised by the Liberals focus on addressing income inequality between high-income earners and the middle class – as evidenced by the proposed high-income tax bracket, the reduction in the Tax Free Savings Account contribution limit, the removal of family income splitting, and an over-haul of the current tax treatment of stock-options.

Currently, the rules relating to employee stock option taxation in Canada, generally provide for no tax payable at the time that options are granted and only result in the employee recognizing 50% of the benefit or gain arising from the exercise of the qualifying stock options issued by public companies. This amount is taxed in the year of such exercise. Stock options issued by a Canadian-controlled private company (CCPC), provided certain conditions are met, are eligible for a further benefit in that the tax payable by the employee is deferred until the employee disposes of the shares acquired through the stock option. The result is a “capital-gains” like tax treatment of the increase in the value of the shares. This treatment is implemented by way of a deduction from employment income rather than taxing the stock options as a capital gain.

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Alerts, Canada

Final Deadline for filing GST/HST Section 156 Elections

For any taxpayer that made an election pursuant to section 156 of the Excise Tax Act before January 1, 2015, the final deadline for filing Form RC 4616 is December 31, 2015. Until this year, there was never a requirement to file any documentation with the Canada Revenue Agency (the “CRA”) when making this election, but due to changes announced in the 2014 Federal Budget, the election is now available in more circumstances, but with these new filing requirements.

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