Foote – Tax Court of Canada finds that a senior stock broker realized gains on a small personal portfolio on income account

The co-head of institutional trading at a full-service brokerage, who engaged in active stock trading in his personal account for the last 10 months of 2009 (with an average hold period of about 50 days), was found by Boyle J to have realized his gains on income account, notwithstanding the relatively small size of his portfolio (starting at $650,000) relative to his employment income, and the fact that he significantly underperformed the stock market. In addition to the active trading, Boyle J was significantly influenced by the taxpayer being involved in trading qua employee (i.e., the brokerage would take short-term positions for its own account, and the taxpayer “gleaned relevant market information as part of his daily job”).

Neal Armstrong. Summary of Foote v. The Queen, 2017 TCC 61 under s. 9 – capital gain v. profit – shares.