Stikeman Elliott's tax practice is highly ranked. Chambers Global's The World's Leading Lawyers 2008 describes Stikeman Elliott's Tax Group as "exceptional" and lists a number of our tax partners as leaders in the field. A previous edition of Chambers Global states that "its tax expertise truly runs deep, especially with regard to international work in the sector." The 2008 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory lists seven Stikeman Elliott lawyers as recommended tax practitioners.
How Our Clients Benefit
The Tax Group has significant experience in all aspects of tax law, including corporate financings, reorganizations and restructurings, government representation, transfer pricing, compliance settlements, appeals, inbound and outbound international planning, trusts, insurance taxation, commodity taxation, customs, pensions and employee benefits, resource taxation, and estate planning.
Tax Advice
Our tax advice benefits from the combined knowledge of an experienced team of lawyers. It is state-of-the-art and supported by all of the necessary research tools available to the profession. Our objective is to find, whenever possible, the proper legal basis on which our clients can achieve their business or personal objectives in the most tax-efficient manner.
The Tax Group is able to draw upon the particular strengths of each of its members in responding to the needs of our clients. This ensures that our clients receive legal services that are tailored to their specific needs in a timely and cost-effective manner, regardless of the complexity of the issues.
Tax Planning
We believe that proper tax planning is key to the successful outcome of transactions. Much of our tax practice involves the structuring of business arrangements to optimize the tax position of clients. In addition to expertise in commodity tax and international trade matters, we have particular experience with:
- Mergers and acquisitions, including corresponding demergers and divisive reorganizations;
- Advice to banks, mutual fund companies, and other financial institutions;
- Public financings, private placements, derivatives;
- Initial public offerings;
- Corporate reorganizations with related loss utilizations and various forms of structured financing arrangements;
- Structuring inbound activities of foreign businesses and individuals and outbound activities of Canadian multinationals;
- Capital taxes;
- Employment compensation and pension arrangements; and
- Taxation of insurance companies.
The Tax Group regularly assists in transactions which are not purely tax-driven, but to which value is added by making them as tax-efficient as possible, such as real estate transactions (financing, transfer duties), shareholder agreements, privatizations, resource matters, film financings and deferred income arrangements.
Dealing With Taxation Authorities
Most matters arising on audit by the taxation authorities can be settled, but good settlements depend upon high-quality representation by experienced lawyers who have established a professional relationship of trust, based on the highest standards of professional expertise and conduct and the understanding, by the taxation authorities, that the taxpayer is prepared to litigate, if necessary, in order to achieve an equitable result.
The Tax Group often acts on behalf of clients to effect changes in existing laws where the application of such laws could lead to unforeseen, unfair or anomalous results.
Tax Litigation
The Tax Group has extensive experience in tax litigation before the federal and provincial courts and has acted in many of the leading Canadian tax cases for more than 40 years. Many of the cases that have defined important tax principles or that have resulted in changes to the law have been argued by members of our Tax Litigation Group, including several recent cases in which our clients' positions have been upheld by the courts at trial or on appeal.
Transfer Pricing
This important area of tax practice is a specialty, which the Tax Group has developed over several years. We are often involved in the negotiation of advance pricing agreements.
Commodity Taxes and International Trade
Expertise of the Group covers commodity taxation and international trade matters including the following areas:
- Goods and Services Tax;
- Provincial sales taxes;
- Excise taxes;
- Customs duties;
- Appeals, litigation and dispute settlement;
- Trade remedies (anti-dump, countervail, safeguards);
- Export and import controls;
- Government procurement;
- NAFTA;
- WTO agreements; and
- Arbitration.
The Tax Group and other members of the firm have considerable expertise in Canadian federal laws governing international trade and international trade agreements, as well as extensive experience in government relations and legislative affairs. We act for governments, industry associations and major corporations in respect of international agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and those under the aegis of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
A member of the Group, Glenn Cranker has been repeatedly named on the International Who's Who of Trade and Customs Lawyers and in the Lexpert/American Lawyer Media publication, A Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada in the areas of commodity taxation and international trade. Members of the firm are on the Canadian NAFTA Chapter 19 (Anti-dump/Countervail) roster and have been arbitrators or participants in International Court of Justice and NAFTA Chapter 11 arbitrations.
Professional Activities
In a complex and fast-changing area like taxation, we believe that public speaking, writing and participation in various industry organizations and committees are essential to remaining abreast of all important developments. Members of the Tax Group speak frequently in Canada and abroad at various conferences, publish articles in publications such as the Canadian Tax Journal, and play active roles in the Canadian Tax Foundation, International Bar Association, American Bar Association and International Fiscal Association. We are active participants in the national and international tax communities. In addition, we are represented on the tax committee of the Conference Board of Canada, the Canadian Branch of the International Fiscal Association and the Board of Governors of the Canadian Tax Foundation. For many years, we have written or edited standard reference sources in the field, such as the Stikeman Income Tax Act, the 15-volume Canada Tax Service, Canada Tax Cases, Pound's Tax Case Notes and Canadian Cases on Pensions and Benefits. Regarded as standard reference sources in the field, these texts are widely used by the tax community in Canada. Also, as a service to our clients, we publish a comprehensive, bound commentary examining the implications of each federal budget.
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