News of Note

There is no bump on the amalgamation following an intergenerational business transfer

In an intergenerational business transfer (“IBT”), there generally is no acquisition of control of the target company (“Targetco”) for tax purposes because its shares are sold to a corporation controlled by the seller's children (“Childco”), who are related to the sellers.

Accordingly, when there is a vertical amalgamation of Targetco and Childco, the cost of the target corporation's eligible assets cannot be bumped by virtue of the s. 88(1)(d.2) rule – which provides that if control of the target corporation was transferred between related persons, the relevant acquisition of control date for purposes of the bump calculation is the date of the last transfer between arm's length parties (generally establishing the historical cost), rather than the most recent transfer between non-arm's length parties.

S. 88(1)(d.3), which deems control to have been acquired by an unrelated person at the time of death, has no application to an IBT.

The absence of a bump is significant, for example, for agricultural corporations, where a substantial portion of the share value is often attributable to farmland.

Neal Armstrong. Summary of Julien Théberge, “The Interaction Between Corporate-Owned Life Insurance and Bump Transactions,” Tax for the Owner-Manager, Vol. 20, No. 2, April 2020, p. 3 under s. 88(1)(d.2).

Parliament did not require the correction of subsequently-discovered errors in a return

It can be inferred that Parliament did not intend to impose an obligation to correct a subsequently discovered error in an income tax or GST/HST return given that it could have specified, and chose not to – see, for example:

  • S. 32.2 of the Customs Act (requiring an importer who discovers a past error in reporting an importation to correct it); and
  • Reg. 8401(6) (requiring the correction and reissuance of a T4 if a pension adjustment is altered for certain reasons, and there is a change in the amount of employment income previously reported).

It is suggested that it follows that a failure to correct such a subsequently discovered error is not a criminal offence (e.g., under ITA s. 239(1)(d), making it an offence to wilfully evade payment of taxes), and it should not trigger penalties that did not already apply at the time of filing. Such failure also is not a ground to permit the CRA to reassess beyond the normal reassessment deadline if the original filing had not constituted a misrepresentation attributable to carelessness or neglect (see ITA s. 152(4)(a)(i) and ETA s. 298(4)).

There remains the question of whether a lawyer or CPA would be in violation of any professional conduct rules by not addressing a subsequently discovered error, but it would seem that if the client is not obligated to act, nor should the advisor. Also note, for example, that an Ontario lawyer “must endeavor to obtain for the client the benefit of every remedy and defence authorized by law” under the Law Society of Ontario, Rules of Professional Conduct, Commentary to Rule 5.1-1.

Neal Armstrong. Summary of David Sherman and Balaji Katlai, “Is a taxpayer required to correct a past error?” Tax for the Owner-Manager, Vol. 20, No. 2, April 2020, p. 1 under s. 239(1)(d).

CRA indicates that a nursing home is not, and a typical rooming house is, a “housing unit” for flipped property purposes

Regarding whether a nursing home or a rooming house was a flipped property, CRA first indicated that it considered that a “housing unit is normally represented by a room, or a group of rooms, used for residential purposes, occupied by a person or group of persons, and which includes a certain number of characteristics such as a kitchen, bathroom, etc.”, and that the term “housing unit” was restricted to single housing unit.

CRA then stated:

Although a nursing home may contain elements of a housing unit (such as a kitchen, bathrooms, etc.), it is our view that a nursing home would generally not be considered a flipped property.

It is unclear whether this is reflecting a view that a nursing home is a care rather than residential facility (see Blanche’s Home Care).

Turning to a rooming house, where individual rooms are rented out but the residents share a kitchen and bathroom facilities, it stated:

[W]e would generally consider the rooming house to be a property that is one housing unit for purposes of the flipped property rules – i.e., it is a room or group of rooms used for residential purposes, occupied by a person or group of persons, with a certain number of elements such as a kitchen, bathroom, etc.

Even if each bedroom went beyond basic furnishings to include a mini fridge, table and basic cooking setup such as a small stove or hot plate, CRA considered that such room would not constitute a housing unit, so that the property would not be excluded from “housing unit” status through having multiple housing units.

Neal Armstrong. Summary of 18 December 2025 External T.I. 2025-1055741E5 under s. 12(13)(a).

CRA indicates that shares designated under s. 7(1.31) are not excluded from being identical properties for superficial-loss purposes

On January 1, 2021, an employee acquired one share of the employer with an FMV of $60, resulting in a benefit under s. 7(1)(a) of $60. On December 1, 2021, the employee acquired three shares with an FMV and resulting benefit of $80 per share. On December 15, 2021, the employee sold three shares for $70 per share and, pursuant to s. 7(1.31), identified the three shares acquired on December 1 as those disposed of so that it had a capital loss of $30. On January 1, 2022, the employee acquired one share with an FMV and resulting benefit of $50.

In finding that the superficial loss rule applied to such loss, CRA noted that ss. 7(1.3) and 7(1.31) may dictate the ordering of dispositions, but do not deem identical properties to not be identical. Furthermore, s. 47(3)(b) (deeming securities to which s. 7(1.31) applied not to be identical for s. 47(1) cost-averaging purposes), did not apply for superficial loss purposes.

However, applying the longstanding CRA administrative formula (SL = (Least of S, P and B)/S x L)), even though the superficial loss under s. 40(2)(g)(i) was the full $30 loss, it was reduced under the formula to $20, i.e., the number of shares held at the end of the 61-day period was two-thirds of the number of shares disposed of.

Neal Armstrong. Summary of 20 October 2025 External T.I. 2023-0972451E5 under s. 7(1.31).

CRA finds that Reg. 5907(8)(a) is limited to mergers of what are already foreign affiliates of a corporation resident in Canada

A resident individual wholly owned Canco, and also wholly owned FA1 which wholly owned FA2.

In November of a particular year, FA1 and FA2 were merged, with FA1 as the survivor. Then, that December, the individual transferred all of the shares of FA1 to Canco on a s. 85(1) rollover basis.

In confirming that Reg. 5907(8)(a) would not apply in respect of that merger to deem the taxation years of the two FAs to terminate and (in the case of FA1) restart with the merger for surplus-computation purposes because, at the time of the merger, FA1 and FA2 were not yet foreign affiliates of Canco, the Directorate first noted, as relevant context, that Reg. “5907(8)(a) is relevant to the computation under subsection 5905(3) for the purpose of determining the various initial surpluses or deficits of the foreign affiliate resulting from the merger in relation to a corporation resident in Canada,” and then stated:

The grammatical and ordinary meaning of the words “foreign affiliate of a corporation resident in Canada” found in paragraph 5907(8), read in their specific context with regard to the purpose of the foreign affiliate regime and, in particular, taking into account the close link between that paragraph and subsection 5905(3), demonstrates that those words refer to a foreign corporation having that status in relation to a corporation resident in Canada immediately following the merger.

A textual, contextual and purposive interpretation of the provision does not reveal any elements supporting a conclusion that the terms of paragraph 5907(8)(a) could have retroactive effect where the status referred to in the provision is acquired at a time subsequent to the merger.

Neal Armstrong. Summary of 14 January 2026 Internal T.I. 2023-0990701I7 F under Reg. 5907(8)(a).

Income Tax Severed Letters 8 April 2026

This morning's release of four severed letters from the Income Tax Rulings Directorate is now available for your viewing.

CRA treats a Roth 403(b) plan as an EBP but states that withdrawals out of it could qualify for the Canada-US Treaty, Art. XVIII(1) exemption

The taxpayer and her spouse, who currently reside in the United States, will immigrate to Canada upon or after retirement. They will then begin withdrawing funds from their US 403(b) plan (and the underlying Roth 403(b) account), to which the taxpayer had made after-tax contributions and (in the case of the underlying Roth 403(b) account) her spouse had made both pre-tax and after-tax contributions.

CRA stated that it “generally consider[s] a 403(b) plan, including the Roth 403(b) account to be an EBP [employee benefit plan]”. On this basis, amounts received from the plan would be included in income under s. 6(1)(g), subject to the exclusion in s. 6(1)(g)(ii) for returns of employee contributions that have not been previously deducted.

CRA indicated that a “403(b) plan qualifies as a pension for purposes of Art. XVIII of the Treaty.” However, IRC s. 107 excludes a minister’s housing allowance from U.S. taxable income. Accordingly, distributions received from the 403(b) plan by a resident of Canada that were designated as a minister's housing allowance would not be taxable in Canada pursuant to the exclusion in Art. XVIII for amounts that would be excluded from US taxable income if received by a US resident.

Neal Armstrong. Summaries of 13 June 2023 External T.I. 2022-0952971E5 under s. 6(1)(g) and Treaties – Income Tax Conventions – Art. 18.

CRA confirms that a beneficiary receiving a return of the deceased RCA member’s non-deductible contributions cannot then generate the missing deduction under s. 60(t)

CRA confirmed that a member's contributions to a retirement compensation arrangement (RCA) that were not deductible under s. 8(1)(m.2) were not deductible under s. 60(t) by the member’s surviving spouse (or other beneficiary) who received such amounts from the RCA after the member's death and included them in income under s. 56(1)(z) or s. 70(3). This scenario did not satisfy the requirement that the deduction was only available to the taxpayer who had made the contributions (not the surviving spouse).

Neal Armstrong. Summary of 30 May 2025 External T.I. 2022-0931461E5 under s. 60(t).

CRA confirms that a “qualified clean hydrogen project” must be expected to be operational for at least 20 years

CRA confirmed that a “clean hydrogen project” cannot qualify as a “qualified clean hydrogen project” where it is expected to be operational for less than 20 years, given that the Guidance Document used by NRCan requires the use of cumulative data representing the first 20 years of operation of the clean hydrogen project in determining expected carbon intensity.

Neal Armstrong. Summary of 20 November 2025 External T.I. 2025-1078901E5 under s. 127.48(6)(n).

CRA indicates that the covered worker requirements extend to their installation of a concrete foundation to support substantial CCUS equipment

In order to support a substantial piece of equipment described in Class 57(a) in respect of a carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) project, Canco will construct a concrete foundation, including the excavation of a hole, the installation of pilings, and the pouring of concrete. The CRA found that this foundation would qualify under Class 57(f) as a structure, substantially all of which was used in the installation of Class 57(a) equipment, so that the foundation would itself be a specified property as defined in s. 127.46(1).

Accordingly, if Canco had elected to meet the labour requirements under s. 127.46(2) (e.g., meeting prevailing union rates) so as not to have the maximum ITC rates reduced, those labour requirements would extend to the above installation work for the foundation.

Neal Armstrong. Summary of 25 February 2026 External T.I. 2025-1081921E5 under Class 57(f) and s. 127.46(1) – covered worker – (a).