HazloLaw represented artist Dominic Sokolowski in a copyright claim involving the breach of his moral rights. Mr. Sokolowski’s work appeared prominently in a major production viewable through the Netflix movie platform as well as in cinemas in many countries. The artist had not granted his permission to the production company and was not given any […]
Dean Blachford, Tax Litigation Lawyer Valentine Gurfinkel, Student-at-Law Shareholder loans—loans given by a corporation to its shareholders—are a common business practice. It is often a perk shareholders receive for investing in the company. It is also a common way for business owners to extract money from their corporation. However, under the Income Tax Act (ITA) […]
Martin Aquilina, International Business Lawyer Marcela Souki, Student-At-Law Caps and baskets are important risk allocation tools available to both sellers and buyers in merger and acquisition (“M&A”) transactions. These tools limit indemnification provisions and restrict the indemnification amount payable in claims for losses. When drafting an agreement relating to the transfer of a business, it […]
HazloLaw’s Tax Litigation Lawyer, Dean Blachford was recently quoted by Bloomberg BNA in an article about the Tax Court of Canada’s decision in CBS Canada Holdings Co. v. R. As explained by Mr. Blachford in the article, the decision has implications on judicial efficiency and access to justice. If you would like to read the […]
It is an all too common scenario that the board of a corporation decides to made a fundamental change to a corporation, such as, for instance, selling its assets or amending its articles to add a new class of shares. The board struggles to convince the necessary threshold of shareholders to vote in favour of […]
Dean Blachford, Tax Litigation Lawyer Karen Cheung, Law Student A shareholder who receives a benefit from his or her corporation is required to report the value of the benefit as income. If that benefit is not reported, the Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) can reassess the shareholder for the value of that benefit under section 15(1) […]
Any company with more than one shareholder should give some thought to whether or not they should implement a unanimous shareholders’ agreement (a “USA”). USAs give shareholders the flexibility to set out exactly how a corporation will be structured, how decisions will be made and how disputes will be resolved, among many other things. Generally […]
Dean Blachford, Tax Litigation Lawyer Valentine Gurfinkel, Student-at-law For tax purposes, goods and services bought and sold in Canada fall into three categories: Taxable supply, Exempt supply and Zero-rated supply. The type of supply a business sells profoundly affects its tax liabilities and benefits. Too many businesses run into trouble with the Canada Revenue Agency […]
One of the main reasons that people incorporate their businesses is to shield themselves (and their partners and investors) from personal liability. And although the corporate structure does allow businesses owners to avoid liability in most circumstances, there are ways in which people within the corporation can be held personally liable when they do not […]
Dean Blachford, Tax Litigation Lawyer Karen Cheung, Law Student Canada’s tax laws allow the CRA to hold directors personally liable for their corporation’s source deductions, non-resident withholdings and GST/HST debts. This is known as “directors’ liability”. But directors may be able to shield themselves from this personal liability using the “due diligence defence”. This article […]
OTTAWA, Ontario – August 24, 2018 – Martin Aquilina, who holds a Master’s degree in Private International Law from the University of Groningen, in the Netherlands, has returned from a three-week study session at the prestigious Academy of International Law in The Hague. The Academy was created in 1925 following a bequest from the Carnegie […]
If you have ever hired a lawyer to incorporate your company you have probably been asked the question as to whether you would like your lawyer to keep and maintain your minute-books for you. Typically, this request comes with a price-tag payable every year, and often clients will just agree and pay the annual fee […]
Dean Blachford, Tax Litigation Lawyer Karen Cheung, Law Student According to the law, corporations are distinct “people” and generally the CRA can’t pursue one person for the tax debts of another person. Canada’s tax laws, however, allow the CRA to hold directors personally liable for their corporation’s failure to remit source deductions, non-resident withholdings and […]
Dean Blachford, Tax Litigation Lawyer Karen Cheung, Law Student If you own a restaurant, the CRA has its eyes on you. Auditors frequently investigate restaurants for potential unreported income and HST/GST. Often, the outcome is bad for restaurant owners. According to the results of an access to information request conducted by HazloLaw – Business Lawyers, […]
OTTAWA, Ontario – July 31, 2018 – HazloLaw – Business Lawyers is proud to be a sponsor of “Collared”, an incredible documentary on insider trading which will be presented at the worldwide premiere in Toronto on September 20th, 2018. This documentary will also satisfy CPE/CPD initiative for lawyers, accountants, and investment or business professionals. Friends of HazloLaw […]
OTTAWA, Ontario – July 25, 2018 – HazloLaw Founder and CEO Hugues Boisvert has been chosen as one of 3 Best Business Lawyers in Ottawa, Ontario. Three Best Rated® handpick the top 3 local businesses through a 50-point inspection system that includes inspecting business’ reputation, reviews, history, complaints, ratings, nearness, satisfaction, trust, cost, and general […]
New arbitration and mediation laws adopted by OHADA In this article, we discuss two common structures that a foreign corporation (“ForeignCo”) can use in carrying on a business in Canada. Each structure has its pros and cons and whether one structure is better suited than the other will depend on a variety of factors such […]
[av_section min_height=’custom’ min_height_px=’200px’ padding=’no-padding’ shadow=’no-border-styling’ bottom_border=’no-border-styling’ id=” color=’main_color’ custom_bg=” src=” attachment=” attachment_size=” attach=’scroll’ position=’top left’ repeat=’no-repeat’ video=” video_ratio=’16:9′ overlay_opacity=’0.5′ overlay_color=” overlay_pattern=” overlay_custom_pattern=” custom_class=”] [av_heading heading=’Enough is enough: half of the Member States temporarily leave UNASUR’ tag=’h1′ style=’blockquote modern-quote modern-centered’ size=’50’ subheading_active=” subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” custom_class=”] new arbitration and mediation laws adopted by OHADA [/av_heading] […]
Martin Aquilina, International Business Lawyer Dustin Paterson, Business Lawyer Threats around the theft and misappropriation of personal information have been around since the dawn of the internet, but as time goes on, these threats are growing and taking on new significance. From recent revelations about Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election to reports […]
Background Historically, when considering whether or not to open a franchise, a potential franchisee would have only the information provided by the franchisor company to rely on. Without any regulatory oversight, franchisors would often only disclose incomplete, or sometimes even inaccurate information, and due to their very limited bargaining power, most franchisees would often have […]
Consider this scenario: Your company, BestDesignCorp (“BDC”), is hired by WeAdvertiseCorp (“WAC”) to come up with a design for their upcoming advertising campaign. WAC will pay you in installments upon certain milestones being achieved. BDC gets paid $25,000 after delivering a preliminary design to WAC, which is calculated as 25% of the total work being […]
OTTAWA, Ontario – April 20, 2018 – HazloLaw Tax Litigation Lawyer Dean Blachford and Law Student Karen Cheung have been published in the April 2018 edition of Tax Advocate. Their article explores the legal tests for determining when income is situated “on reserve” for purposes of obtaining an exemption under Section 81 of the Income Tax […]
[av_section min_height=’custom’ min_height_px=’200px’ padding=’no-padding’ shadow=’no-border-styling’ bottom_border=’no-border-styling’ id=” color=’main_color’ custom_bg=” src=” attachment=” attachment_size=” attach=’scroll’ position=’top left’ repeat=’no-repeat’ video=” video_ratio=’16:9′ overlay_opacity=’0.5′ overlay_color=” overlay_pattern=” overlay_custom_pattern=” custom_class=”] [av_heading heading=’Another Free Trade Agreement on the horizon? Canada and Mercosur negotiating towards a comprehensive FTA’ tag=’h1′ style=’blockquote modern-quote modern-centered’ size=’50’ subheading_active=” subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” custom_class=”] new arbitration and mediation laws […]
In an ideal world, every person you lend money to will pay you back and every customer/client will pay you for your services. Unfortunately, we do not live in that world and people, for a variety of reasons, sometimes refuse to pay their debt and/or disagree with the amount owed. In these situations, most businesses […]
[av_section min_height=’custom’ min_height_px=’200px’ padding=’no-padding’ shadow=’no-border-styling’ bottom_border=’no-border-styling’ id=” color=’main_color’ custom_bg=” src=” attachment=” attachment_size=” attach=’scroll’ position=’top left’ repeat=’no-repeat’ video=” video_ratio=’16:9′ overlay_opacity=’0.5′ overlay_color=” overlay_pattern=” overlay_custom_pattern=” custom_class=”] [av_heading heading=’FinDev Canada is operational to help the private sector in developing countries’ tag=’h1′ style=’blockquote modern-quote modern-centered’ size=’50’ subheading_active=” subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” custom_class=”] new arbitration and mediation laws adopted by OHADA […]
[av_heading heading=’HazloLaw – Business Lawyers proud to have contributed to 2018 E-iure Compendium’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote modern-centered’ size=’24’ subheading_active=” subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” custom_class=”][/av_heading] [av_hr class=’default’ height=’50’ shadow=’no-shadow’ position=’center’ custom_border=’av-border-thin’ custom_width=’50px’ custom_border_color=” custom_margin_top=’30px’ custom_margin_bottom=’30px’ icon_select=’yes’ custom_icon_color=” icon=’ue808′] [av_one_fifth first][/av_one_fifth] [av_three_fifth] [av_textblock size=’14’ font_color=” color=” custom_class=”] HazloLaw – Business Lawyers, with the assistance of Corporate Immigration […]
[av_heading tag=’h2′ padding=’15’ heading=’Webinar Video: What to do when the CRA Contacts You’ color=” style=’blockquote modern-quote’ custom_font=” size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ custom_class=”] Presented by Hazlolaw’s Dean Blachford and Welch LLP [/av_heading] [av_two_third first] [av_video src=’https://youtu.be/p51K5yoCWHQ’ format=’16-9′ width=’16’ height=’9′ custom_class=”] [/av_two_third]
Can a Canadian court stop a person from taking action not only in Canada but also abroad? The answer to that question was answered last year by the Supreme Court of Canada (the “SCC”). As we discussed in our previous article, “Google Inc. v. Equustek Solutions Inc., a Commercial Perspective”, the SCC confirmed the ability […]
OTTAWA, Ontario – January 30, 2018 – HazloLaw Tax Litigation Lawyer Dean Blachford’s recent article providing information regarding the tax system and the powers of the Canada Revenue Agency has been published in the Canada China News, an Ottawa-based publication serving the Canadian Chinese Community. Given the number of Chinese entrepreneurs contributing to Canadian society, HazloLaw […]
Dean Blachford, Tax Litigation Lawyer Brittany Rossler, Law Student The Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) recovered $291.7 million as a result of audit activities related to real estate in Ontario from April 2015 to June 2017.[1] Individuals must now report the sale (or deemed sale) of their principal residence on their annual tax return.[2] With the CRA’s […]
Dean Blachford, Tax Litigation Lawyer Isabelle St-Hillaire, Law Student Clients facing financial difficulties may be tempted to transfer property to a related party in an attempt to shelter their assets from creditors. Professionals working in the field of bankruptcy and insolvency know, however, that in the context of tax debts section 160 of the Income […]
Dean Blachford, Tax Litigation Lawyer Valentine Gurfinkel, Law Student This article explains how tax evasion is prosecuted under the ITA and why criminal defence lawyers should consider partnering with a tax lawyer to help them successfully defend their clients against tax evasion charges. WHAT IS TAX EVASION Broadly speaking, “tax evasion” is the wilful non-compliance […]
Background on OHADA The Organisation pour l’harmonisation en Afrique du droit des affaires (“OHADA”) is an intergovernmental organization established in 1993, with a mission to harmonize business law in Africa in order to improve legal and judicial security for investors in Africa. Currently, OHADA comprises 17 African Member States: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African […]
According to conventional wisdom, a party should always push to have its local laws govern its contract. True, applying your own country’s law to a contract can provide certain advantages such as more certainty in the legal process and costs. However, in certain cases, it may be advantageous for a party to have a foreign […]
Consider this scenario Joe has successfully built his software company from the ground up and is now thinking of retiring to a beautiful coast in Italy. Word of this gets around and Joe receives calls from people asking him to sell his company. Joe decides that the time is right to sell the company and […]
Dean Blachford, Tax Litigation Lawyer Brittany Rossler, Law Student INTRODUCTION Your clients rely on you to advise them on how to structure their work relationships in order to meet their goals and comply with the law. A worker’s status as an employee or independent contractor has significant implications, including whether or not their hirer has […]
Update on the proposed changes to taxation of private corporations As many of you have heard in the news, on July 18, 2017, the Government of Canada released a consultation paper with proposed changes to the taxation of private corporations. The proposed changes, if implemented, would have limited or eliminated some of the common tax […]
Summary According to the settlement agreement, TransTel violated U.S. sanctions by paying over eleven million U.S. dollars through its U.S. dollar account at a Singapore-based bank to various third-party vendors that included Iranian companies supplying goods and services associated with Iranian contracts. These payments were processed through the U.S. CSE and TransTel made these payments […]
Martin Aquilina, international business lawyer at HazloLaw – Business Lawyers, gave the following trilingual speech at Canada 150 – 150th Anniversary of Canadian Confederation in the Americas: Canada’s Role Regarding the Protection of Human Rights (Click here for the link to the HazloLaw – Business Lawyers’ announcement on its sponsorship of the event): Bonjour […]
OTTAWA, Ontario – October 6th, 2017 – HazloLaw – Business Lawyers is proud to announce that they have established a new annual fund in memory of their late colleague, Dr. Robert McMechan at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law. Described as a “tax litigation expert” by the Ontario courts, Robert McMechan served as Senior […]
Dean Blachford, Tax Litigation Lawyer Valentine Gurfinkel, Law Student The Voluntary Disclosure Program (“VDP“) allows taxpayers to avoid penalties, interest, and criminal tax evasion charges by disclosing formally unreported income and paying tax on it. As the Federal Government invests greater resources in tax enforcement, the VDP is becoming a vital tool for accountants in […]
Dean Blachford, Tax Litigation Lawyer As a Chartered Professional Accountant, you work with tax legislation every day and there is no one who understands your clients’ financial reporting obligations better than you. So, when CRA reassesses one of your clients, it’s only natural that you want to prepare the objection. There are a number of […]
[av_three_fourth first] [av_heading heading=’Martin Aquilina to present at the 13th RWP Rechtsanwälte International M&A Conference’ tag=’h1′ style=’blockquote modern-quote modern-centered’ size=” subheading_active=” subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” custom_class=”][/av_heading] [av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=” custom_class=”] Martin Aquilina, international business lawyer at HazloLaw – Business Lawyers, will be presenting on “Selected Issues under the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement and […]
Dean Blachford, Tax Litigation Lawyer Valentine Gurfinkel, Law Student With the Federal Government of Canada taking an increasingly aggressive stance against tax evasion and offshore investment, professionals advising foreign nationals doing business in Canada and Canadians doing business abroad need to make sure their clients comply with Canadian tax laws. Failure to properly report and […]
[av_three_fourth first] [av_heading tag=’h1′ padding=’10’ heading=’HazloLaw – Business Lawyers to sponsor: Canada 150 – 150th Anniversary of Canadian Confederation in the Americas: Canada’s Role Regarding the Protection of Human Rights’ color=” style=’blockquote modern-quote modern-centered’ custom_font=” size=” subheading_active=” subheading_size=’15’ custom_class=”][/av_heading] [av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=” custom_class=”] HazloLaw – Business Lawyers is proud to sponsor Canada 150 – […]
[av_three_fourth first] [av_heading tag=’h1′ padding=’10’ heading=’Formation: Stratégies de commercialisation et aspects juridiques des transactions internationales’ color=” style=’blockquote modern-quote modern-centered’ custom_font=” size=” subheading_active=” subheading_size=’15’ custom_class=”][/av_heading] [av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=” custom_class=”] Exportez-vous présentement aux États-Unis ou songez-vous d’y faire affaires? Me Martin Aquilina, avocat chez HazloLaw – Avocats d’Affaires, de concert avec M. Guillaume Cariou de Mercadex […]
On June 28, 2017, the Supreme Court of Canada released its long-awaited decision in the case of Google Inc. v. Equustek Solutions Inc. The case is important as it affirms the authority of Canadian courts to issue worldwide injunctions against companies operating online, greatly expanding the power of Canadian courts in the process. However, by […]
On July 13, 2017, Hugues Boisvert (second from the right), Founder & CEO of HazloLaw – Business Lawyers, spoke on the panel at SHAPE North America to discuss NAFTA after 25 years. The panel included Ailish Campbell, Chief Trade Commissioner of Canada and Raul Rodriguez, Chairman, US-Mexico Foundation. Shape North America is a 5-day summit that brings […]
Our fourth and final entry in this series of articles addresses knowledge scrapes, what they are, how they differ from materiality scrapes and how they can be best put to use in M&A transactions. Knowledge Qualifiers The starting point, when discussing knowledge scrapes, is the knowledge qualifier. A knowledge qualifier is a way to limit […]
In our second article of our series on the use of “scrapes” in asset purchase agreements or share purchase agreements, we examined the advantages of the materiality scrape. In this third installment, we will review the disadvantages of scrapes and solutions to reconcile seller and purchaser viewpoints. Arguments Against Scrapes As mentioned above, the materiality […]