Ben Nevis – English Court of Appeal found that a new collection assistance Treaty article applied to old tax debts

Last year, the English Court of Appeal found that a collection assistance Article which had been newly-added to the U.K./South Africa Income Tax Convention should be interpreted as permitting the South African Revenue Service to secure the assistance of its U.K. counterpart in collecting tax debts of a South African which arose prior to the coming into force of that Convention.  This is a reminder that foreign tax debts which are not currently collectible in Canada by a foreign tax authority by virtue of the common law revenue rule and limitations in (or the absence of) any collection assistance provision in the applicable treaty, could subsequently become collectible through a new Treaty protocol (and conversely for Canadian tax debts).

Neal Armstrong.  Summary of Ben Nevis (Holdings) Ltd. v. Revenue and Customs Commissioners, [2013] BTC 485, [2013] EWCA Civ 578 under Treaties – Art. 26A, Treaties – General, and Statutory Interpretation – Retroactivity/Restrospectivity and Revenue Rule.