Real estate transactions and related activities are subject to
complex GST/HST rules and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has been
applying those rules to closely scrutinize transactions with a view
to extract more revenue for the government coffers. Below we have
highlighted key developments in the GST/HST jurisprudence that are
noteworthy for professionals that deal with real property
transactions and related activities.
Structuring as a joint venture may provide GST/HST savings
GST/HST on property management fees are generally an
unrecoverable expense for residential landlords and other providers
of GST/HST-exempt services (hospitals, universities, charities,
etc.). In Medallion, the landlord and the
property manager avoided the cost of unrecoverable GST/HST on their
services by structuring their relationship as a joint
venture.1
