Tax

  • July 31, 2026

    Due diligence in mergers and acquisitions: Seller considerations

    Due diligence is the process by which the buyer in an M&A transaction investigates and evaluates the business or assets being sold. Buyers typically begin this process early in the transaction and it tends to continue right up to closing day. Sellers, however, do not always turn their minds to the process until they receive due diligence requests from the buyer. Owner-managers are understandably focused on running their businesses, and preparing for a potential sale often takes a back seat. This article outlines the benefits of proactive due diligence for sellers and key considerations to facilitate the process.

  • July 31, 2026

    Canada’s AI strategy sets the stage for growth, governance and data sovereignty

    Artificial intelligence is reshaping economies, industries and the global competitive landscape at an unprecedented pace. Recognizing both the opportunities and the risks presented by this technological shift, the federal government launched Canada’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy: AI for All on June 4, 2026.

  • July 30, 2026

    Privative clause struck down; judicial review for ‘legality’ is constitutionally guaranteed: SCC

    In an administrative law landmark that addresses the scope of the Constitution’s guarantee of judicial review, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled 9-0 that legislatures cannot validly use privative clauses to bar “legality review” by courts — i.e., the availability of curial review is constitutionally guaranteed for all aspects of delegated administrative decisions, including on questions of law, fact or mixed law and fact.

  • July 30, 2026

    Gig workers: How to use voluntary disclosure for unreported income to avoid 50% penalties

    This is part of a three-part Law360 Canada series on taxation of the platform economy. Part one covered Canada’s platform-reporting regime under Part XX of the Income Tax Act. Part two covered income characterization and GST/HST compliance for platform earners.

  • July 30, 2026

    A bird’s chirp: Donald Trump’s most recent Canadian tariff

    George Santayana’s famous bon mot “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” is part of a longer passage that is particularly relevant to President Donald Trump’s bizarre conclusion that bad forestry practices in Manitoba should be met with a 50 per cent tariff on Canadian exports to the U.S., to be paid primarily by American importers and consumers.

  • July 29, 2026

    Court sends $5M mining tax incentive renunciation back to CRA

    The Federal Court has allowed a judicial review after finding that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) failed to properly explain why a lithium mining company could not make a second, late renunciation of exploration expenses to subscribers of its flow-through shares.

  • July 29, 2026

    Must a CCPC be a ‘Canadian corporation’?

    Under s. 123.3 of the Income Tax Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. 1 (5th Supp.) (ITA), certain investment income earned within a Canadian-controlled private corporation (CCPC) is subject to a refundable tax.

  • July 28, 2026

    Gig workers: How to determine if your side hustle requires you to charge and remit GST/HST

    Part one of this series covered Canada’s platform-reporting regime under Part XX of the Income Tax Act. Part two is a practitioner’s guide that will discuss business versus property income, employment versus independent contractor status, non-cash compensation valuation, and GST/HST registration rules for Canada’s digital economy.

  • July 24, 2026

    Gig workers, beware: Tech platforms now send your income directly to the CRA

    For most of the past decade, the dominant compliance problem in Canada’s digital economy was one of invisibility. Platform income — whether earned through Airbnb, Uber, Etsy, YouTube, or a subscription content service — was self-reported, difficult for the Canada Revenue Agency to verify independently, and largely invisible to the agency’s audit selection algorithms unless the taxpayer’s bank deposits or lifestyle flagged a discrepancy. That environment has changed.

  • July 24, 2026

    Spouses, estate law and the principal residence exemption

    This is the scenario: John and Jane each purchase a real property in Ontario in 2003, to which they take title in their names alone. John purchases a residential property for $2,000,000 (“John’s property”) and Jane purchases a cottage property for $1,000,000 (“Jane’s property”). In 2006, John and Jane become common law spouses and go back and forth between living at their respective properties — typically John’s during the fall and winter months and Jane’s during the spring and summer months. John and Jane never enter into any domestic agreement. Both were previously married and have children from prior marriages, who are their primary beneficiaries and not each other.