Canadian Update On Cross-Border Tax Planning

Over the last two years, as tax rates in jurisdictions like the United States have fallen, Canada's personal and corporate tax rates continue to be calcified at the high end, internationally.  In Ontario, the top personal marginal rate is 53.53%.  The general corporate tax rate is 26.5% and the tax rate on investment income of a Canadian-controlled private corporation is 50.2%.  Rather than looking forward to reduced exposure to high taxes, Canadians are facing exposure to the indiscriminate exchange of information, both domestically and internationally, with virtually no protections for privacy rights.

Canada is enacting the new international tax regime rules promulgated by the OECD under the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project ("BEPS").  The Income Tax Act (Canada)(the "ITA") has been amended to promote transparency through the automatic exchange of information known as the Common Reporting Standard ("CRS").  This prescription for combatting tax evasion and