Publications

September 25, 2020

Court upholds deductibility of carrying charges

The Tax Court of Canada (the “Court”) recently upheld the deductibility of carrying charges incurred in connection with an issuance of shares.  In so doing, the court upheld the tax benefits arising from a common financing practice. In addition, the Court reiterated the principle in tax matters (…)

June 26, 2020

Sale of a Business: New Tax Planning Option

The sale of a business is often the most significant business transaction in an entrepreneur’s life. In addition, the net proceeds from such a sale often represent an entrepreneur’s only retirement fund. Therefore, it is crucial to maximize such proceeds by reducing or deferring the taxes resulting (…)

June 16, 2020

Resumption of Mergers and Acquisitions: What May Change After the Crisis

The COVID-19 crisis has significantly slowed economic activity in all respects. The area of corporate mergers and acquisitions is no exception, and the level of activity, which was high before the crisis, has dropped significantly because of it.   It is difficult to predict when and at what pace (…)

June 9, 2020

COVID-19: Support for Agriculture and Agri-Food Businesses in Quebec and Canada

It goes without saying that the economic upheavals caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are posing countless challenges for all companies, whether or not they are pursuing their activities within the limits imposed by the governments of Canada and Quebec. Food producers such as agricultural and food (…)

April 15, 2020

Bill C-14 has become law: Are you eligible for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy?

On March 30, 2020, the Government of Canada announced that it would grant the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (the “CEWS”) to qualifying entities, no matter their number of employees or their size. Bill C-14 bringing into effect the CEWS, received royal assent on April 11, 2020.  The Government of (…)

April 8, 2020

COVID-19: Summary of Quebec and Federal Tax Measures and Financial Assistance

Download your reference page of the financial aids put in place in Quebec and Canada The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is forcing different levels of government to institute measures to reduce the burden on taxpayers and protect the economy. The following is a summary of the principal measures (…)

March 30, 2020

COVID-19: How to adapt your current tax planning?

The spread of COVID-19 is having a considerable negative effect on the global economy. Several tax planning strategies adapted to the current situation can be considered in order to mitigate the impact. Tax planning for individuals helps to (i) reduce the taxes payable upon death, (ii) encourage (…)

March 18, 2020

Bill 37 and Preventive Disclosure of Tax Planning: Why and How?

Bill 37, now known as the Act mainly to establish the Centre d’acquisitions gouvernementales and Infrastructures technologiques Québec, SQ 2020 c. 2,  was assented to on February 21, 2020. In particular, this act makes significant changes to the Act respecting contracting by public bodies, CQLR c. (…)

March 13, 2020

The 2020-2021 Quebec Budget: New Measures to Promote Innovation!

Quebec’s Minister of Finance tabled his budget for 2020-2021, titled Your Future, your Budget1, on March 10. Among the new measures introduced by the government, new tax incentives for innovation and the commercialization of Quebec intellectual property were announced. The incentive deduction for (…)

September 24, 2019

New Compensation Method: Employee Benefit Trust Replacing Stock Option Plans

Nowadays, many employers are seeking out forms of compensation that will help motivate and retain key employees. More and more, employers are opting for one of a variety of company stock ownership profit-sharing plans to reach this objective. Employers who wish to implement this type of structure (…)

July 4, 2019

What are Revenu Québec's new tools to fight against “aggressive” tax planning?

On May 17, 2019, the Ministère des Finances du Québec announced new anti-avoidance tax measures in its Information Bulletin 2019-5 (the “Bulletin”) that are in line with today’s tightening of the tax environment and the fight against tax planning deemed to be aggressive. The measures announced on (…)

September 19, 2017

Substantial upcoming tax impact on investment funds’ management compensation

On September 8, 2017, the Minister of Finance introduced unexpected legislative and regulatory proposals regarding partnership distributions to a general partner, which will now be subject to GST/HST. On the other hand, the Québec government has yet to propose similar changes, but we believe it will (…)

April 6, 2017

CRS: Be ready for July 1^st, 2017

CRS entry into force: July 1st, 2017 The Common Reporting Standard (“CRS”) will impose new obligations on financial institutions, including investment funds, as of July 1st, 2017. These rules are an addition to the existing Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”), which applies to Canadian (…)