Merger challenge shows Competition Bureau focus on digital economy
Canada’s new Commissioner of Competition, Matthew Boswell, appointed just four months ago, has taken little time to make his mark as a man of his word. By initiating the first contested merger challenge since 2015, the first merger challenge ever involving software companies, the first involving a private equity company, and a rare challenge to […]
SCC decision will make it harder for tax evasion across provincial borders
The Supreme Court of Canada’s June judgment in 1068754 Alberta Ltd. v. Québec (Agence de Revenue) means that tax evaders will have no more luck hiding their assets extra-provincially than they currently do internationally. “This was an extraordinary 9-0 decision ensuring tax authorities that they will be able to get information out of any Canadian province just […]
SNC-Lavalin affair: Jobs over democracy
The “public interest,” it turns out, can be a real threat to democracy. It is, after all, the catchphrase that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau used to justify his contravention of the Conflict of Interest Act by pressuring former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to negotiate a deferred prosecution agreement with SNC-Lavalin. The PM’s spin on the whole thing […]
Competition Bureau’s Call for Intel on Anti-Competitive Conduct in Digital Economy Raises Eyebrows
In a general sense, what the Bureau wants to know is whether the characteristics of certain digital markets favour concentration — a process called ‘tipping’ The Competition Bureau’s recent call to Canadians to flag anti-competitive conduct in the digital economy is raising eyebrows among industry professionals. Certainly, the Bureau’s consultation seems far more concrete than […]
A New Tax Law Could Spell Trouble for Safe Havens and Shell Companies — and it’s Already on the CRA’s Radar
The new law has set its sights on holding or shell companies set up principally to take advantage of a double taxation treaty Foreigners looking to Canada as a tax haven and Canadians seeking havens abroad will have to deal with a whole new set of rules when the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Multilateral Instrument […]
Scheer’s Call for SNC Lavalin Inquiry During Election Dangerous Precedent
It may just be the brouhaha over Andrew Scheer’s dual citizenship that made me link Donald Trump’s vow to “jail Hillary” and “lock her up” with the Conservative leader’s pledge — in the middle of an election campaign, no less — to launch a judicial inquiry into Justin Trudeau’s conduct in the SNC Lavalin scandal. […]
Contractors buying from Home Depot, other retailers beware – – – the CRA is coming after you
The Home Depot Canada’s commercial customers are the latest target of the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) continuing priority audit of the underground economy in general and home improvement contractors in particular. In July, using what is known as the “unnamed person requirement”(UPR) found in the Income Tax Act, the CRA obtained a Federal Court order […]