SimpsonWigle Law LLP Tax News

The Supreme Court has dismissed with costs the taxpayer’s application for leave to appeal from the Federal Court of Appeal’s decision in The Queen v. Anchor Pointe Energy Ltd., 2007 FCA 188.

Karen Wilkinson at Deloitte was kind enough to point out to me that the CRA has reversed itself on whether a 116 certificate is necessary when Canadian corporations with non-resident shareholders amalgamate. IT-474R2, issued on December 17, 2007, contained the “new” position. The CRA reissued the bulletin on January 8, 2008, with the old position reinstated. The bottom line is that non-resident shareholders of amalgamating corporations will not be required to obtain a 116 certificate because of the amalgamation.

There’s nothing to see here; move along please.

The CRA recently released Interpretation Bulletin IT-474R3 (”Amalgamations of Canadian Corporations”). One of the big changes relates to the requirement to obtain a certificate under section 116 of the Income Tax Act. Previously, the CRA took the position that a non-resident shareholder of an amalgamating corporation was not required to obtain such a certificate (see ¶45 of the old bulletin). The CRA has changed that position in the new bulletin: non-resident shareholders will now be required to obtain a certificate, much to the delight, no doubt, of the already-swamped CRA workers in the trenches who deal with the requests for certificates.

The Tax Court has rejected an application by International Charity Association Network under subsection 188.2(4) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) for a postponement of a suspension “of its authority to issue an official tax receipt for one year beginning on November 28, 2007″. See International Charity Association Network v. The Queen, 2008 TCC 3.

The Ministry of Government Services has issued a notice to clients that discusses the effect of the single administration of Ontario corporate income taxes (which will be implemented by January 1, 2009) on the process for filing annual corporate returns under the Corporations Information Act. The notice says that the process for filing returns “will continue to be integrated with corporate income tax filing.” Apparently, the Ministry of Government Services and the CRA are working to integrate the information return with the new single tax return.