Author: Bibiane Bijsterveld

The Final Step: Passing the Accounts in a Contentious Estate

I.       Introduction A.     Then and Now: The Duty to Account All personal representatives and trustees (throughout this paper the term “trustee” represents both a true trustee and personal representative) have a duty to account to persons with a beneficial interest in the estate (Deutschmann Estate v. Fallis, 2011 BCSC 1009 at para. 53, affirmed 2011 BCCA 404). The origins of the duty to account are traced, as with much of the law in the area of wills and estates, to the Ecclesiastical Courts of England. In his paper “The Last Word: Passing the Accounts in a Contentious Estate”, Scott Kerwin…

The Taxation of Medical Marihuana: Goods and Services Tax, Harmonized Sales Tax and Provincial Sales Tax (British Columbia)

Alistair G. Campbell

A.     INTRODUCTION   The purpose of this paper is to address the application of the federal Goods and Services Tax (“GST”), Harmonized Sales Tax (“HST”) and British Columbia provincial sales tax (“PST”) to sales of medical marihuana.[2]  By “medical marihuana”, the paper refers to dried marihuana that is sold as a medication to mitigate the symptoms of a disease, disorder or abnormal physical state or its symptoms.  We do not address the taxability of sales of marihuana for recreational uses. The discussion in this paper applies to GST/HST, which applies throughout Canada (at a rate of…

International and Interprovincial Tax Planning Issues for Individuals and Trusts

Nicholas P. Smith

I.     INTRODUCTION Planning for clients with assets and beneficiaries in multiple jurisdictions requires knowledge of residency and the deeming rules that could alter its common law meaning. The interprovincial source rules for the taxation of individuals and trust income are critical in planning as investment income is taxed based on residency while business income is taxed based on its source. The use of interprovincial trusts in tax planning can have benefits for clients in British Columbia given the significantly lower tax rates in Alberta for dividends. However, this type of planning requires careful…