Would the “temporary administrative tolerance” in Notice No. 284 extend to a registered bare trustee filing the returns in a real estate co-ownership situation where no s. 273 election had been made? Would it be possible to now do the election indicating the date the co-ownership began as the effective date? As an analogy, note the 2002 Roundtable, Q.15 indicating that a s. 156 election could be made retroactively if the parties had conducted themselves as if an election were in place (and the other conditions were satisfied). CRA responded:
A co-ownership arrangement does not necessarily have the same characteristics as a joint venture and the section 273 election is generally not available to such arrangements. Furthermore, where there is a bare trust operator for a particular real estate co-ownership arrangement, the co-ownership arrangement cannot make a valid election.
Where in a particular fact situation, there is a valid operator, it can be clearly established that a joint venture exists for purposes of the section 273 election, and the parties were acting as if the election were in place, a back-dated election can be made that dates back to the date of the written co-ownership arrangement.
