Those of you who know me well will know that my first career choice was to be a music teacher. I studied and played music classically well into my teens. When I realized that my talents would likely not provide me a stable living, I switched gears and became a Chartered Accountant. I still love music – all types of music with a few exceptions – but I have a soft spot for classic rock which is often playing in my office. One of my all time favorite bands is AC/DC. Their straight-ahead blues rock with very simple (almost comical) lyrics is exactly what I like to listen to when I need to turn my brain off (which doesn’t happen very often). Accordingly, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to attend AC/DC’s concert in Edmonton on September 20, 2015.

A number of years ago, the government introduced legislation (under paragraph 38(a.1) of the Income Tax Act – the “Act”) that exempts from taxation realized capital gains when publicly traded securities are gifted directly to registered charities. Subsequent to the introduction of such rules, many commentators have suggested that donations to charities from proceeds realized upon the disposition of real estate and private corporation shares should also be subject to a similar capital gains exception. The government has resisted introducing such measures until the 2015 Federal Budget (the “Budget”) which was released on April 21, 2015.

For better or worse, on June 18, 2015, Alberta’s newly elected NDP provincial government released Bill 2, which immediately received First Reading in the Legislature and passed. Even though the Bill is still not law, it will undoubtedly pass into law soon. Bill 2 contains corporate and personal tax increases that are, quite frankly, shocking. While “shocking” may not be a correct description, especially since the NDP had campaigned on the tax increases that are contained in the Bill, many Alberta tax practitioners, like us, are still shocked that such abrupt increases are actually going to see the light of day.