Yellow Point – Tax Court of Canada finds that an ecological gift was made in the year before it was certified as such

A taxpayer, who donated an interest in ecologically sensitive land to two qualified donees in 2008, unsuccessfully argued that the gift was not made until 2009 for purposes of computing the five-year (now 10-year) carryforward period described in s. 110.1(1)(d)(iii), because it was not until 2009 that he received certification from the Minister of the Environment as to the lands’ ecologically sensitive nature. Visser, J stated:

[A] gift has been made … when a donor legally effects a voluntary transfer of property to a donee … .

… [T]he certificates are necessary to claim a deduction under paragraph 110.1(1)(d) … but not to determine if a gift of land has been “made” for the purpose of paragraph 110.1(1)(d).

Neal Armstrong. Summary of Yellow Point Lodge Ltd. v. The Queen, 2019 TCC 178 under s. 110.1(1)(d)(iii).