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Reuters recently reported a study showing that corporations face very long
odds in tax appeals heard by the United States Supreme Court. There
were 919 income tax cases in the Supreme Court of the United States
from 1909 to 2011. 364 of those cases involved corporations. In
"abuse" cases, the government won 61% of the time. In
other cases, the government won 68% of the time. The real story is
likely much grimmer since the statistics show that the US Supreme Court only
grants review in about 2% of leave applications.
The Canadian Supreme Court heard 356 income tax cases between
1920 and 2003. Of these, the statistics show that the government won 223,
or roughly 2/3. The record of Supreme Court tax cases between 2004
and 2012 is essentially similar. While an exact breakdown of
corporate cases is not available, anecdotal evidence suggests that
the success rate of corporations is roughly 1/3 (a more detailed
analysis will be available in the future).
While the Canadian experience appears superficially to mirror
the American statistics, a very different story is disclosed by
Canadian leave to appeal statistics.
Year
Denied
Granted
2001
579
79
2002
433
53
2003
523
75
2004
466
83
2005
492
65
2006
406
55
2007
550
69
2008
448
51
2009
444
59
2010
388
54
2011
398
62
Total
5127
705
Grand Total
5832
Average
0.120885
As the chart demonstrates, roughly 12% of leave applications are
granted in Canada. Thus, corporations and other taxpayers may have
as high as 6 times more likelihood of success in a tax appeal
before the Supreme Court of Canada than in cases before the Supreme
Court of the United States.
About Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP (FMC)
FMC is one of Canada's leading business and litigation law
firms with more than 500 lawyers in six full-service offices
located in the country's key business centres. We focus on
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strive to excel as a workplace of choice for our people. Regardless
of where you choose to do business in Canada, our strong team of
professionals possess knowledge and expertise on regional, national
and cross-border matters. FMC's well-earned reputation for
consistently delivering the highest quality legal services and
counsel to our clients is complemented by an ongoing commitment to
diversity and inclusion to broaden our insight and perspective on
our clients' needs. Visit:
www.fmc-law.com
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Today (May 2, 2013), Ontario Finance Minister, Charles Sousa tabled the province’s 2013 Budget. This year’s budget, titled "A Prosperous and Fair Ontario" is committed to eliminating the deficit by 2017-18 and then reducing the net debt-to-GDP ratio to the pre-recession level of 27%.
A Canada Revenue Agency audit initiative is targeting taxpayers who have recently sold condominium units they did not occupy or occupied for only a short period of time.
Canada’s 2013 federal budget released on March 21, 2013 introduces a number of measures to strengthen the ability of the Canada Revenue Agency to address international aggressive tax avoidance and to combat international tax evasion so as to maintain and protect Canada’s tax base.
Tax Communiqué: Highlights From The Budget 2013 (Video Content)
