The Westminster Principle and Athlete Bonuses
Arranging ones financial affairs to reduce tax owed is an unwritten right
Does CRA need to prove that you owe the taxes?
The short answer is a resounding NO.This is baked into the law. For example, 299(3) of the Excise Tax Act states: “An assessment, subject to being vacated on an objection or appeal under this Part and subject to a reassessment, shall be deemed to be valid and binding.”
Protective rebate claims (should I file one?)
Protective rebate claims (should I file one?) The case Ontario Addictions Treatment Centre and The Attorney General of Canada is the objective answer to the question of whether one should file a rebate or appeal application when the CRA’s position is still being debated. There was no downside to filing the rebate application while waiting for CRA […]
Bare Trusts and the GST/HST
Bare Trusts and the GST/HST I remember the first time I heard the term bare trust and had no inkling of what it meant. For simplicity, a trust is defined as a person under subsection 123(1) of the Excise Tax Act. A bare trust is a trust that holds the legal title to property and […]
Who pays the tax with platforms like Airbnb, Etsy and others?
Who pays the tax with platforms like Airbnb, Etsy and others? On July 1, 2022, the grace period for non-resident digital economy companies like Airbnb, Etsy, Turo, and many others, elapsed and they were required to register for GST/HST under Subdivision E. These platforms began collecting and remitting tax, and confusion soon followed among suppliers […]
Due diligence and director liability
Tax Court cases are often very interesting to understand how the position the legal profession takes on a matter can differ greatly from that of the CRA. In Hirjee v. The King, the CRA took the position that a corporate director failed to exercise their due diligence for remitting tax collected under the ETA and therefore was […]
Massive TFSA overcontribution and the consequences.
A recent article in the Financial Post highlights the risks in overcontributing to a TFSA and the consequences. In the scenario the taxpayer withdrew >$600K from a line of credit and invested it into the stock market in 2020 and held the equities in his TFSA. What he didn’t understand is that there is an annual and […]
Are Professional fees deductible for objecting to an assessment or reassessment of income tax?
The ZheroTax business model is to not charge a fee unless the tax professional reduces or eliminates the taxpayer’s amounts owed. Either the taxpayer wins or they don’t pay. However, if they win, there is still a fee and the people at Tax Pages have done a great job of explaining why those fees are […]
Are You Eligible For The Public Service Bodies Rebate?
If your organization is a registered charity, a qualifying non-profit, or a selected public service body it can claim significant amounts of GST/HST paid in respect of its exempt activities just by completing a public service bodies rebate a couple of times per year. There are at least 86,000 public service bodies in Canada and […]
Are food delivery drivers liable for GST/HST that wasn’t paid by food delivery companies like UberEats and Skip The Dishes
Assuming the driver isn’t a small supplier ($30k or less in 4 calendar quarters), the short answer is, probably yes. This will come as a surprise to many drivers who have been led to believe that the supply is zero-rated. Frankly, as a former GST/HST Rulings officer, I don’t know how the author of that […]