GAAR and Risky Tax Planning

Since its enactment, the General Anti Avoidance Rule (affectionately knowns as "the GAAR") causes many tax practitioners to lose sleep at night. The Courts struggle with the definition of the terms misuse, abuse, avoidance transaction, and tax benefit which has led to reams of case law, some of which are hard to interpret and understand. The Court's decisions are unpredictable and at times contradictory. The 2022 budget has set out a proposal to modernize the GAAR after its "coming of age" and the tax advisory industry watches the development of this modernization with bated breath.

Join us for two hours as we review the basics and definitions of GAAR, what the Canada Revenue Agency considers to be tax planning and aggressive tax planning, discuss tax advisors' duties under the various codes of conduct and ethics. We will also discuss the government's commentary around GAAR reform and some recent key GAAR cases.

Speakers:

• Molly Luu, J.D., Partner at Miller Thomson
• Justin Ng, J.D., Associate at Miler Thomson
• Marie-Hélène Tremblay, LL.B., Partner at Miller Thomson