Gestion Byrns Black – Court of Quebec finds that a building was demolished before the agreement for the property’s transfer was made, so that the supply was taxable

A married couple held a rental property through a holding company. Boutin JCQ held that they acquired the rental property from the corporation on June 25, 2014, when a notarial deed of sale for the transfer by the corporation to them of the property was executed, rather than on March 6, 2014 when the couple personally agreed (without the corporation as a party) with a contractor to have the existing building demolished and a new personal residence constructed. Since the existing building had been demolished by the later of the two dates, the property’s supply to the couple was not an exempted supply of a residential complex for QST purposes, and was a taxable supply.

Neal Armstrong. Summary of Gestion Byrns Black Inc. v. Agence du revenu du Québec, 2023 QCCQ 945 under ETA Sched. V, Pt. I, s. 2.