This study examines the issue of tax neutrality of the income tax treatment of credit swaps in Canada in domestic context. It analyzes the applicable tax regime consisting of rules on tax characterization, timing and tax rates through the lenses of symmetry, consistency and certainty approaches....

Despite its complexity and the harsh reception the Canadian Goods and Services Tax (GST/HST) was greeted with at its inception in the early 1990s, the story emerging from Canada's value-added tax (VAT) experience is mostly a happy one. Indeed, a majority of the provinces will soon have replaced...

In the constitutional moment known to Canadians as Confederation, in 1867 the UK Parliament passed the British North America Act, 1867 (now known as the Constitution Act, 1867), thereby creating the Dominion of Canada. From the time of Confederation, there have been, broadly speaking, two sets...

In Canadian income tax law, winnings from gambling are taxable when they constitute “income from a source.” What is not clear is the basis for determining when, where, and how winnings from gambling activities can amount to “income from a source.” In light of recent decisions of the Tax...

Michael Trebilcock is by all accounts one of his generation's most prolific and important scholars of law and economics. Through more than 200 articles, book chapters, books, edited volumes, and other academic publications, Trebilcock has made lasting contributions to many fields including (and...

The General Anti-Avoidance Rule (the GAAR) was originally introduced in Canadian income tax law in 1988 with prospective effect. The GAAR was amended in May 2005 to broaden its scope (by bringing under its ambit the regulations, treaties, etc.) and to lessen the burden of persuasion faced by the...