Tax Law 2024: Navigating Changes to the Tax Landscape
January 17, 2024 at 9:00AM PST
Live Webinar - online only!
Tax Law 2024: Navigating Changes to the Tax Landscape
January 17, 2024
Overview
Significant changes are on the horizon in the world of taxation. In August 2023, the Government of Canada unveiled an extensive package of draft legislative proposals, covering a wide variety of tax measures long-awaited by taxpayers and tax practitioners alike. Our esteemed expert faculty will take you through the key new and proposed federal tax legislation. You will leave equipped with essential knowledge and valuable insights to master the dynamic terrain ahead. Don’t miss this opportunity to stay at the forefront of tax law changes.
Please note this program is only offered online as a live webinar event.
Key Areas Addressed:
Recent tax cases you should know about
Amendments to the GAAR
Proposed new tax laws that will impact private companies
Managing the complexities of the new Excessive Interest and Financing Expenses Limitation rules
Unpacking Commodity Tax changes
Updates on the Notifiable and Reportable Transactions regime
Who Should Attend:
Tax accountants and tax professionals
Lawyers practicing tax law or estate planning
In-house corporate counsel
Financial advisors, financial planners, and wealth managers
Business owners and managers
Finance professionals
Business consultants
Educators and students
Agenda
9:00 - Welcome by PBLI
9:05 - Chair’s Welcome and Introduction
Ian Humphries
Thorsteinssons LLP
9:10 - Tax Litigation and Dispute Resolution: Update and Insights
Josh Schmidt
Schmidt & Gilmour Tax Law LLP
A review of recent decisions and statutory changes
Trends and observations in CRA audit and re-assessments
9:55 - Questions and Discussion
10:05 - Morning Adjournment
10:20 -Amendments to the General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR)
Robert Carvalho
Thorsteinssons LLP
The Department of Finance’s draft amendments:
Introduction of interpretive preamble
Expanding range of transactions that may fall within the ambit of the GAAR
Revising the definition of avoidance transaction
Adding economic substance test
New penalties
Extending the limitation period for GAAR reassessments
Introduction of voluntary reporting regime
Potential issues with proposed amendments:
Overreach?
Fairness of penalty proposal
Lack of clarity, uncertainty, and risk
Effective date of proposed changes
11:05 - Questions and Discussion
11:15 - Private Company Tax Strategies in a Shifting Landscape
Rebecca Cynader
Scion Law LLP
Discussion of challenges and opportunities for private companies arising from recent significant amendments and proposed amendments to the Income Tax Act (Canada) in relation to:
Intergenerational business transfers
Alternative minimum tax
Employee ownership trusts
Trust reporting rules
12:00 - Questions and Discussion
12:10 - Lunch Adjournment
1:00 - What the EIFEL? Understanding the New Excessive Interest and Financing Expenses Limitation Rules
Justin R. Shoemaker
Thorsteinssons LLP
Further revised draft legislation and explanatory notes
Managing the increased complexity
Who is impacted (and potential impact on domestic companies)
Effect on financing decisions and the tax compliance obligations
1:45 - Questions and Discussion
1:55 - Afternoon Adjournment
2:10 - Unpacking Commodity Tax Changes: Housing, GST, PST
Zheting Su
Thorsteinssons LLP
Underused Housing Tax - Topical issues
Vacancy Tax update
GST update, including new rental housing enhanced rebate
PST update, including on software and cloud computing services
Audit and enforcement trends
2:55 - Questions and Discussion
3:05 - An Update on the Notifiable and Reportable Transactions Regime
Parveen Karsan
McQuarrie Hunter LLP
Expansion of the existing rules
New reporting requirements
The Federation of Law Societies of Canada’s Charter challenge
3:50 - Questions and Discussion
4:00 - Chair’s Closing Remarks
4:05 - Program Concludes
Meet the Chair
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Partner, Thorsteinssons LLP, Vancouver, BC
Ian’s practice focuses primarily on advising private Canadian corporations and their shareholders on income tax matters, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganizations, succession planning, estate planning and tax planning with trusts. Additionally, Ian represents taxpayers in certain tax controversy matters, primarily at the audit and administrative appeals level. Ian is a former co-author of the taxation chapter of the CLE Annual Review of Law and Practice and has authored a number of papers on various income tax matters.
Meet the Faculty
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Partner, Thorsteinssons LLP, Vancouver, BC
Prior to joining Thorsteinssons, Mr. Carvalho was formerly counsel at the Department of Justice, handling tax litigation on behalf of the Crown. He has over 25 years experience litigating tax cases in the Tax Court of Canada, Federal Court of Appeal, Federal Court of Canada and BC Supreme Court. He specializes in high-value tax avoidance and GAAR cases. He often presented at Canadian Tax Foundation and Canada Revenue Agency conferences.
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Partner, Scion Law LLP, Vancouver, BC
Rebecca is a tax lawyer and partner at Scion Law LLP. Her practice focuses on tax planning for individuals, trusts and closely-held companies. Rebecca advises a variety of clients on tax, corporate and trust law matters, and assists with planning and implementing tax-driven structuring and reorganizations, including post-mortem planning.
Rebecca joined Scion Law as a partner in 2022 after practicing in tax for several years at a large, full-service downtown Vancouver law firm. Prior to commencing her legal practice, Rebecca clerked at the Tax Court of Canada in Ottawa.
Rebecca has completed the CPA Canada In Depth Tax Course, and she is a member of a number of legal and tax professional bodies including the Canadian Tax Foundation. Rebecca is recognized in the 2024 edition of the Best Lawyers in Canada directory for her work in trusts and estates.
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Partner, McQuarrie Hunter LLP, Surrey, BC
Parveen is a tax, trusts and estate planning lawyer advising clients on personal and corporate taxation, estate planning, wealth management and trust-related matters.
Parveen’s practice includes assisting with, and advising on: tax aspects of domestic corporate reorganizations and other corporate and commercial transactions; the structuring and implementation of purchases and sales of businesses, divisive reorganizations and transactions involving multiple entities (including partnerships and joint ventures); the use and establishment of domestic trusts (including discretionary family trusts, alter ego trusts, joint spousal trusts and testamentary trusts); business succession planning and estate freezes; the tax effective divisions of assets on divorce or separation; residential real estate taxes (including the speculation and vacancy tax, Vancouver’s empty homes tax, the Underused housing tax and property transfer tax); the tax aspects of acquisitions and dispositions of resource property; and the GST and PST implications of transactions.
Parveen also represents and assists clients with the resolution of tax disputes with the Canada Revenue Agency at the audit, appeals and Tax Court levels.
As part of her estate planning practice, Parveen provides tailored estate plans to clients to ensure that their legacies are properly provided for. She carefully considers each client’s needs, circumstances and objectives in order to design tailored estate plans.
After clerking at the Alberta Court of Appeal, Parveen worked for a large national firm and a national tax boutique before joining the partnership of a reputable mid-sized firm in downtown Vancouver. She then founded a tax, trusts and estate planning boutique which, after 6 successful years, joined McQuarrie Hunter in 2022. Parveen is available to meet clients in Surrey, Burnaby and downtown Vancouver.
Parveen is fluent or proficient in French, Spanish, Hindi and Gujarati. She has also had linguistic training in Italian and Punjabi.
Parveen was recently selected for inclusion in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in Canada™ in the fields of Tax Law and Trusts and Estates.
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Founding Partner, Schmidt & Gilmour Tax Law LLP, Vancouver, BC
Josh restricts his practice to tax litigation, including representation for criminal tax evasion. Josh has appeared before the Tax Court of Canada, British Columbia Provincial Court, British Columbia Supreme Court and British Columbia Court of Appeal.
Prior to founding Schmidt & Gilmour Tax Law LLP with Drew Gilmour, Josh practiced tax at two national tax boutiques, working on tax litigation as well as tax planning for corporations, individuals, trusts and partnerships. Josh has also practiced law at a national law firm and a business law boutique advising on a variety of business law matters. Josh gained business experience in the marketing department of a large fast-moving consumer goods company for five years before attending law school.
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Associate, Thorsteinssons LLP, Vancouver, BC
Justin’s practice focuses on all areas of income tax law, including corporate and international tax planning, flow-through share financing and mergers and acquisitions.
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Partner, Thorsteinssons LLP, Vancouver, BC
Zheting’s practice focuses on all aspects of transactional/commodity taxes, including the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), Goods and Services Tax (GST), First Nations GST, provincial sales taxes, realty taxes (such as land/property transfer taxes, Vancouver’s vacancy or empty homes tax, and B.C.’s foreign buyers tax and speculation tax), and insurance premium tax. Zheting routinely advises on the tax implications of transactions for individuals, non-profits, charities, financial institutions, private corporations, and public corporations including multi-nationals. Zheting assists clients with tax planning and represents clients in audits, administrative appeals, litigation, and voluntary disclosures.
Registration Form
Program:
Tax Law 2024: Navigating Changes to the Tax Landscape
Date:
January 17, 2024
Location:
Live webinar - online only!
Registration:
The registration fee is $845.00 plus GST of $42.25 totalling $887.25 for webinar attendance. Registration fee covers your online attendance at the program and electronic materials.
Early Bird Discount:
Register by December 20th, 2023 and receive a $100 discount on the registration fee ($745.00 plus GST). Discounts cannot be combined.
Group Discount:
Register four persons from the same organization at the same time and you are entitled to a complimentary fifth registration. Discounts cannot be combined.
If you would like to register a group, please fill out this form and email it to registrations@pbli.com:
Payment:
You may pay by VISA, Master Card or cheque. Cheques should be made payable to the Pacific Business & Law Institute and mailed to Unit 2-2246 Spruce Street, Vancouver, BC V6H 2P3. Please do not send cheques via courier with signature required.
When and Where:
Online check-in begins at 8:30 a.m. The program starts at 9:00 a.m. (PDT). Webinar instructions and access will be emailed prior to the program.
Materials:
The faculty will prepare papers and/or other materials explaining many of the points raised during this program. Materials will be distributed electronically. Please contact us at registrations@pbli.com if you are unable to attend the program and wish to purchase a set of materials.
Cancellations/Transfers:
Refunds will be given for cancellations (less a $60.00 administration fee) if notice is received in writing five full business days prior to the program (January 10, 2024). After that time we are unable to refund registration fees. Substitutions will be permitted. We reserve the right to cancel, change or revise the date, faculty, content, availability of webinar or venue and transfer in-person registration to webinar registration for this event.
To register by phone:
Telephone us: 604-730-2500
Your Privacy:
We will keep all information that you provide to us in strict confidence, other than to prepare a delegate list containing your name, title, firm and city for our faculty and the program delegates. We do not share our mailing lists with any non-affiliated organization.
Course Accreditation:
Attendance at this course can be listed for up to 5.75 hours of continuing professional development credits with the Law Society of BC. For practitioners in other jurisdictions, please check your governing body’s CPD requirements.
If you would like to register a group, please fill out this form (DOWNLOAD FORM) and email it to registrations@pbli.com; for individual registration, please continue with form below.