What kinds of cases are you looking for?    < Previous Case Collections — holding off on collecting on incorrect GST/HST assessmentGST/HST — Advertising servicesGST — air travel commissionsGST — builder built home for personal useGST — builder of new home was not who CRA thought it wasGST/HST — Cancelling interest on "wash transaction"GST — cleaning up years of failure to charge GST on management feesGST — community centre constructionGST/HST — convincing CRA that it was too late to assessGST — corporation providing health care servicesGST/HST — credit for net tax wrongly remittedGST — dental clinicGST — directors' liability (car dealership)GST — directors' liability (company dissolved)GST — director's liability (construction contractor)GST — director's liability (corporate lawyer)GST — directors' liability (person never agreed to be a director)GST — directors' liability (public company)GST — director's liability (restaurant owner)GST — directors' liability assessment — individual was 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miscellaneous adjustmentsGST/HST — new housing rebateGST/HST — net tax refund approvedGST/HST — no "substantial renovation" of apartment buildingGST — partnership assessment was out of timeGST — purchase of real estateGST/HST — purchases by President as agentGST — rebate for ship towed out of the countryGST/HST — rebate to builder of student residenceGST — recognizing when a second objection had to be filedGST/HST — recovering HST not paid on sales incentivesGST/HST — recovering tax from customers after CRA assessmentGST — reducing assessment by almost 90%GST/HST — reducing assessment on self-supply of new homeGST — registrants were not associatedGST — reopening audit after expiry of appeal periodGST — retroactively deeming a business to be GST-registeredGST — sales of condominiumsGST — school board's liability eliminatedGST — services to insolvent companies were zero-ratedGST/HST — services to US company were zero-ratedGST/HST — services were zero-ratedGST — stopping a client from being driven out of businessGST — summer camp teaching English as a second language was exemptGST — tax on purchase of commercial propertyGST — tire installer neglecting to bill GSTGST — townhouse renovationsGST/HST — valuation of student residenceGST — voluntary disclosure — negotiating interest relief and income tax offsetGST — voluntary disclosure acceptedGST — voluntary disclosure of GST collected on commercial rentsGST — voluntary disclosure of management feesGST — waiver of interestGST — waiver of interest and penaltyGST — waiver of penaltyGST — wash transactionGST — were courses educational or recreational?PST — director's liabilityPST — directors' liability (car dealership)PST — directors' liability re data conversion projectPST — eliminating assessment for tax collected by franchisorPST — invoices written up incorrectlyPST — reducing tax on sale of book with CD-ROMPST — refund of tax on supermarket constructionIncome tax — $2 million payment on retirement was tax-freeIncome tax — another refund where return filed lateIncome tax — assessment for transfer by tax debtorIncome tax — auditor demanding too muchIncome tax — builder built home as personal residenceIncome tax — cancelling source deductions assessmentIncome tax — capital gains vs. incomeIncome tax — charitable donation of kidney beansIncome tax — charitable donation to US religious schoolIncome tax — child support deductionIncome tax — claiming business losses from past yearsIncome tax — companies were not carrying on Personal Services BusinessIncome tax — corporation was bare trusteeIncome tax — costs of mother's Notice of Objection deductibleIncome tax — CRA chasing widow for deceased's RRSPIncome tax — deduction for Power of Attorney feesIncome tax — donations to suspect charity allowedIncome tax — expenses against unreported incomeIncome tax — expenses of setting up a film shelterIncome tax — general anti-avoidance ruleIncome tax — getting the $500,000 capital gains exemptionIncome tax — getting Third Level Fairness reviewIncome tax — income from UN agency was tax-freeIncome tax — income not earned personallyIncome tax — intercompany charges deductibleIncome tax — liability of deceased's estate for UK pension incomeIncome tax — no tax on litigation settlementIncome tax — officers of company were acting as outside sales reps, not employeesIncome tax — over-intrusive auditIncome tax — professional fees deduction allowedIncome tax — refunds where returns filed lateIncome tax — "reserve" was not a reserveIncome tax — RRSP on deathIncome tax — sale of condo was not a "flip" for profitIncome tax — tax savings on selling homeIncome tax — taxpayer did not realize she was non-resident and exempt from Canadian taxIncome tax — trust for disabled childIncome tax — voluntary disclosureIncome tax — wages of family members were deductibleIncome tax — waiver of TFSA penalty taxIncome tax — withholding tax on deemed dividendIncome tax and GST — real estate agent's business expensesCollections — execution preventing sale of propertyPayroll withholdings — directors' liability (company dissolved)Payroll withholdings — directors' liability (public company)Payroll withholdings — penalty for late remittanceYour problem goes here Next Case > Income tax — no tax on litigation settlement My clients were two brothers who owned property that was sought by a developer. The developer had acquired adjoining properties and planned to build a non-profit housing complex. The brothers agreed to form a limited partnership with the developer and sell their property to the partnership. Due to a change in provincial government, funding for non-profit housing was cancelled and the partnership cancelled its development plans. The developer decided to build a condominium instead on the properties it already owned, and refused to proceed with the purchase of the brothers' property. The brothers sued the developer for breach of contract. They reached a tentative agreement to settle for $300,000. They then wondered how best to structure the agreement for tax purposes, and asked me for help. I reviewed all the documentation and determined that there were several ways the settlement could be structured. For example, if the brothers sold their interests in the limited partnership, they would have to pay tax of about $95,000. This could be changed if they could instead get a Court order nullifying the partnership agreement on the basis that the agreement had been "frustrated". I pointed out that the Courts have held that a retroactive order from a provincial superior court is binding on the CRA for determining what has happened as between two parties. I then analyzed the tax treatment of the $300,000 if it was based on the partnership agreement being terminated. If the Court Order nullified the agreements of purchase and sale, then there was authority supporting the principle that it might not be taxable at all. Although the CRA and the Courts would be more likely to find the settlement taxable as a capital gain, there was a supportable filing position to the effect that the settlement would be a "tax nothing" (non-taxable windfall). Based on my analysis, the brothers chose not to report the settlement in their tax returns. I provided detailed advice to their lawyer as to how to word the consent judgment terminating the litigation, including obtaining a Court order retroactively declaring that both the limited partnership agreement and the sale agreement had never been entered into. Three years passed from the initial assessment of the brothers' returns, and during that time the CRA did not reassess them. Once the three years passed, the years were "statute-barred", since my clients' failure to report the transaction was reasonable in light of my advice. As a result, they ended up paying no tax on the settlement. My clients were very happy to keep the full $300,000, instead of paying 1/3 of it to tax! (1997)