The University of Toronto hosts a conference today on The Supreme Court of Canada and the General Anti-Avoidance Rule: Tax Avoidance after Canada Trustco and Mathew:

On 19 October 2005, the Supreme Court of Canada released the first decisions in which it has considered the general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) in section 245 of the federal Income Tax Act. Adopted in 1988, this rule was intended "to distinguish between legitimate tax planning and abusive tax avoidance" by denying tax benefits that would otherwise result from tax-motivated transactions contrary to the scheme of the Act. In its unanimous judgments in Canada Trustco and Mathew, the Court explains how the GAAR should be interpreted and applied.

The purpose of this symposium is to review the judgments in these landmark tax cases and to consider their implications for tax administration and tax practice. The first session will examine the decisions themselves in light of previous Supreme Court of Canada tax cases and lower court pronouncements on the application of the GAAR. The second session will consider the implications of the decisions for tax avoidance in Canada, with a panel discussion involving representatives from the Canada Revenue Agency and leading tax practitioners. Tax Court of Canada Chief Justice Donald Bowman will provide final comments.

Here are the presenters and their papers:

• Benjamin Alarie (University of Toronto): Retroactivity and the General Anti-Avoidance Rule
• Daniel Sandler (University of Western Ontario): The Minister’s Burden Under GAAR
• Jinyan Li (Osgoode Hall Law School, York University): The Economic Substance Doctrine and GAAR: A Critical and Comparative Perspective
• David G. Duff (University of Toronto): The Supreme Court of Canada and the General Anti-Avoidance Rule: Canada Trustco and Mathew

To watch the live webcast of the conference beginning at 1:30 p.m., see here.