Tax
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August 16, 2024
Surrendering U.S. citizenship: How it can help, how it can hurt
U.S. citizenship is a privilege for many, but it can also be a burdensome and unwanted obligation for others.
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August 15, 2024
When is a tax-free savings account not tax free?
A taxpayer can invest through a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) and the income earned is tax-free even when withdrawn. This is in contrast to the Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) in which withdrawals from the account are taxed. However, contributions to an RRSP are deductible from taxable income. TFSA contributions are not.
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August 14, 2024
Ontario Court of Appeal overturns fraud convictions, citing ineffective defense counsel
The Ontario Court of Appeal has set aside two fraud convictions, finding that the legal representation the defendant received at trial fell below the standards of reasonable professional judgment and undermined the fairness of his trial.
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August 14, 2024
Canada ‘disappointed’ in U.S. increase in ‘unfair and unwarranted’ softwood lumber duties
In a lingering, decades-long trade dispute, Canada is again crying foul over an increase in U.S. duties on Canadian softwood lumber.
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August 09, 2024
Saskatchewan Court of Appeal quashes property assessment due to reliance on prior year’s decision
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal regarding the assessment of a Saskatoon property that was valued at over $3 million.
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August 09, 2024
Canada sanctions Belarusian judges complicit in Lukashenko regime’s jailing of political prisoners
Canada and its allies have imposed asset freezes and immigration bans on certain Belarusian judges and others who facilitate repression and violations of human rights in their country, including jailing hundreds of political prisoners at the behest of President Alexander Lukashenko’s illegitimate regime.
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August 08, 2024
Steel, aluminum producers urge Ottawa to impose 25 per cent tariff on Chinese imports
Canadian steel and aluminum manufacturers are calling on the federal government to immediately impose a 25 per cent tariff on Chinese steel and aluminum to prevent dumping and to bring Canada in line with its trading partners under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
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July 31, 2024
AMPs for securities fraud can be debts released by bankruptcy discharge: SCC
Settling conflicting appellate case law over whether the exemption in s. 178(1)(e) of the federal Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act enables administrative money penalties (AMPs) and disgorgement orders imposed by a provincial securities regulator to survive a bankruptcy discharge, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled 5-2 that $13.5 million in AMPs imposed by the BC Securities Commission on two undischarged bankrupts for fraudulent securities activity is a debt that can be released by a future discharge in bankruptcy. But it ruled unanimously in addition that approximately $5.6 million in related disgorgement orders would survive any discharge from bankruptcy the pair might obtain in future.
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July 30, 2024
Counsel contend Ottawa’s spate of judicial appointments might make novel constitutional appeal moot
Lawyers who won a groundbreaking Federal Court declaration that recognized a “constitutional convention that judicial vacancies on the provincial superior courts and federal courts must be filled within a reasonable time” contend Ottawa’s appeal should be dismissed as moot if the Trudeau government gets federal judicial vacancies down to the reasonable level set by Federal Court Justice Henry Brown last February.
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July 26, 2024
Upcoming federal election: What does it mean for private clients?
Our last federal election was Sept. 20, 2021, and constitutional and statutory provisions require that the next federal election must be held no more than five years after a preceding election and by the third Monday in October in the fourth calendar year after the date of the previous election, which means on or before October 20, 2025. That of course means that, while election fervour and fever continue to escalate south of the border, Canada will soon follow.