Please note that the following document, although believed to be correct at the time of issue, may not represent the current position of the CRA.
Prenez note que ce document, bien qu'exact au moment émis, peut ne pas représenter la position actuelle de l'ARC.
File: |
7-921146 |
Author: |
D.J. Powrie |
April 28, 1992
AUTHOR DPOWRI
PRAIRIE PROVINCES TAX CONFERENCE
DRAFT/EBAUCHE
May 19 & 20, 1992
Question 1
Subsection 85(5.1) is a "stop loss" rule which applies, among other situations, where the transferee was a member of a group of persons that immediately after the disposition controlled the transferor directly or indirectly in any manner whatever (paragraph 85(5.1)(b)). If A and B are unrelated individuals who own 95% and 5%, respectively, of the shares of Opco, could the rule apply to a transfer of depreciable property from Opco to B? What if A and B each own 50% of the shares in Opco? Should the section refer to transfers to members of a "related group" instead of to transfers to members of a "group"?
Department's Position
In the first situation (where B owns 5% of the shares of Opco), B is not, for the purposes of subsection 85(5.1), a member of a group which directly or indirectly controls Opco since A acting on his own controls Opco. In Southside Car Market Ltd. et. al. v. M.N.R. (82 DTC 6179 (FCTD)) the court held that where one person controls a corporation, it cannot also be said to be controlled by a group. Assuming that neither B nor his spouse has any direct or indirect influence that would, if exercised, result in control in fact of Opco, subsection 85(5.1) would not apply to a transfer of depreciable property from Opco to B.
In the second situation (where A and B each own 50% of the shares of Opco), it is a question of fact as to whether A and B are a group which directly or indirectly controls Opco and the question could only be answered after a review of all the relevant circumstances. For A and B to constitute a group that controls Opco, there must exist a common link or interest between them (which must involve more than their status as shareholders). If they are, in fact, such a group, then subsection 85(5.1) could apply to a transfer of depreciable property from Opco to B.
The final question relates to tax policy and should be addressed to the Department of Finance.
All rights reserved. Permission is granted to electronically copy and to print in hard copy for internal use only. No part of this information may be reproduced, modified, transmitted or redistributed in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system for any purpose other than noted above (including sales), without prior written permission of Canada Revenue Agency, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0L5
© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, 1992
Tous droits réservés. Il est permis de copier sous forme électronique ou d'imprimer pour un usage interne seulement. Toutefois, il est interdit de reproduire, de modifier, de transmettre ou de redistributer de l'information, sous quelque forme ou par quelque moyen que ce soit, de facon électronique, méchanique, photocopies ou autre, ou par stockage dans des systèmes d'extraction ou pour tout usage autre que ceux susmentionnés (incluant pour fin commerciale), sans l'autorisation écrite préalable de l'Agence du revenu du Canada, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0L5.
© Sa Majesté la Reine du Chef du Canada, 1992