Articles
A cooperative or “co-op” refers to an incorporated business organization owned by members sharing common needs or goals. Incorporation presents a number of advantages to its members, namely the co-op’s separate legal existence, limited liability for the members, and general agreement to basic principles on how the organization will operate.
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This essay reviews the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the “Act”) tax shelter provisions and provides an overview of relevant issues to demonstrate that despite criticisms that the provisions and Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) enforcement are overreaching, it has been successful in prohibiting, preventing and reassessing participants in aggressive tax shelter programs. It argues that issues…
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There are two main ways to buy or sell an incorporated business: buying and selling its assets or buying and selling its shares. An asset purchase and sale consists of selling the corporation’s tangible (e.g. inventory and equipment) and intangible (e.g. goodwill and intellectual property) assets. Buyers often prefer asset sale transactions because business liabilities…
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In common usage, the word ‘charity’ is often used to refer to any not-for-profit organization. However, legally, registered charities and non-registered not-for-profit organizations are treated differently for tax purposes in important ways. While not-for-profits are generally exempt from income tax, registered charities have broader tax exemptions including the ability to issue charitable tax receipts to…
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