In 2004, I provided a technical review of employees profit sharing plans (“EPSPs”) as part of a paper that I wrote for the Canadian Tax Foundation. The 2012 Federal Budget significantly changed the game. Accordingly, I thought it might be time to update my 2004 analysis.

One of the largest sources of work for our firm is from accounting and law firms who need specialized domestic and cross-border tax advice. Such practitioners are great friends of our firm.

As the world becomes more complex, small-firm accountants and lawyers can have a very difficult time keeping up with the pace of change that occurs around them.

St. Michael Trust Corp. v. The Queen is the first appeal where the Supreme Court of Canada has considered the test for residency of a trust for tax purposes. The appeal was heard merely four weeks ago.  We were surprised when printing out the Court’s judgment that its pages could be bound by a standard staple, which is exceedingly rare for a complex tax appeal.  The importance of residency status is that a Canadian-resident taxpayer, including a trust, is taxable in Canada on worldwide income.