CRA indicates that GAAR should not be applied until realization of a tax savings

Wild found that transactions that boosted the paid-up capital of shares held by the taxpayer should not be addressed by applying the general anti-avoidance rule to reduce the PUC of those shares, but that there instead could only be a GAAR abuse when such PUC was distributed to him.

After indicating that the effect of the decision is that a tax benefit has to be realized before s. 245(2) can be applied, CRA indicated that, as a result, when the GAAR Committee determines that excessive tax attributes have been created, CRA will issue a letter indicating that if a future cash tax benefit is realized through their use, GAAR will be applied at that time.

Summary of Alexandra MacLean, "CRA Audits of Large Corporations - The view from ILBD" under Responses to recent adverse decisions – Wild, 27 November 27 2018 CTF Annual Conference presentation under s. 247(2).