CRA finds, despite daily interest accrual requirement, that bonuses paid to depositors were interest

CRA found that "promotional bonuses" paid by a credit union to depositors, calculated as a percentage of the deposit balances at specified anniversaries provided that a deposit had been in place for a stipulated period, constituted interest to the depositors.  Although CRA professed a requirement that an amount "must be calculated on a day-to-day accrual basis" to qualify as interest, in context it did not treat this as entailing any requirement that the accrued interest must be capable of being calculated at the end of each day during the term of the debt – so that the daily accrual requirement may be largely vacuous.  See s. 12(1)(c) commentary - Daily accrual of interest.

Neal Armstrong.  Summary of 22 January 2014 T.I. 2014-0517121E5 under s. 12(1)(c).