May, 2006    Supreme Court of Canada Refuses to Hear Art Flip Cases    The Family Cottage - All is Calm and Peaceful, Or Is It?    Le coût de vivre au Québec et travailler en Ontario    New Rules on Taxation of Scholarships - Non-Taxable Benefits of Employment?    Home Office Offers Business Travel Bonus    Canadian Charities Operating Overseas    GST Reduction and the Transitional Rules    Powers of Attorney for Property Supreme Court of Canada Refuses to Hear Art Flip Cases - Victor Au On April 20, 2006, the Supreme Court of Canada refused leave to appeal in a group of art donation cases. (Klotz, Tolley, Quinn and Nash.) The art donation cases usually involve a promoter who obtains artwork for a taxpayer. The promoter then helps the taxpayer obtain a tax receipt from a charity for the artwork in excess of the cost of the artwork. The obtaining and donating of the artwork usually occurs within the span of a couple of months. Under the law, the charity can issue a tax receipt for the fair market value of the artwork. Years of litigation have been undertaken over the proper determination of fair market value. CRA believes that the refusal of the Supreme Court to hear these cases will end the matter. We are not so sure. More... The Family Cottage - All is Calm and Peaceful, Or Is It? - Douglas Buchmayer Some families are defined by the cottages they keep. Others wish they were. In what seems to be one of the most popular sources of family recreation, the cottage is often regarded as the family jewel, emotionally and otherwise. But families (like cottages) tend to age over time, and families (unlike cottages) tend to get endlessly larger and more diverse. Few families can imagine not being able to “go to the cottage”, but almost all families recognize that over time the dynamics of family ownership will soon become more complex. If not property planned, succession of the family cottage can very well become the family nightmare. More... Le coût de vivre au Québec et travailler en Ontario - Sebastien Desmarais Lorsque qu’arrive la fin avril, les conséquences de travailler en Ontario pour un résidant québécois se font nécessairement ressentir. Tous savent qu’ils devront payer davantage d’impôt mais savent-ils la véritable différence? Cet article a comptabilisé les chiffres et procure une réponse à cette question. More... New Rules on Taxation of Scholarships - Non-Taxable Benefits of Employment? - Charles Rotenberg These days, employers are looking for ways to give non-taxable benefits to employees. We have written before about non-taxable gifts to employees. The 2006 Federal Budget may make it possible to provide significant educational assistance for the children of employees, in such a way as to make it a non-taxable benefit of employment. More... Home Office Offers Business Travel Bonus - Arthur Drache Over recent years, there has been a great trend towards individuals working out of their homes. One reason of course is that the advent of computers, the internet and high speed access has allowed somebody in a home office to have virtually as much access to information and to have relationship with colleagues and clients as they might have in an office away from home. But some recent tax cases show that there can be a tax bonus involved in some of these cases as well. More... Canadian Charities Operating Overseas - Adam Aptowitzer Overseas operation is fundamental to the operation of many charities, especially religious charities, and so it is important for these charities to have a good understanding of the law regarding carrying out charitable activities overseas. Given that the government subsidizes registered charities to the extent that it gives tax credits for the amount donated, it should not be surprising that the CRA attempts to exert as much control over funds spent overseas as funds spent domestically. In the past, the CRA has insisted on onerous documentation requirements for funds spent overseas although this requirement was disputed by many in the sector. The Federal Court of Appeal recently weighed in on the debate in the case of Bayit Lepletot v. MNR . More... GST Reduction and the Transitional Rules - Chad Boyd The federal government has announced that there will be reduction in the rate of GST from 7% to 6% effective July 1, 2006. Aside from a federal government keeping an election promise, this likely does not come as surprising news to anyone reading this article. However, while this change would appear to be straightforward, as we approach the implementation date, various issues with the application of the new rate will become apparent, making the change simple only on its face. More... Powers of Attorney for Property - Elizabeth Lockhart A Power of Attorney for Property [“POA for Property”] is a written authority given from one individual (the “grantor”, “principal” or “donor”) to another individual(s) (the “attorney(s)”) allowing the attorney(s) to do certain acts or make certain decisions on behalf of the grantor with respect to the grantor’s finances and other property. This article will focus only on the use of a POA for Property in the event of mental incapacity. More... You are receiving this e-mail because you have subscribed to one of our Drache LLP newsletters. You have complete control to review, update your newsletter options or unsubscribe at your discretion. 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