Sell Now: How The 2014 Budget May Impact Small Business Owners’ Exit Strategies

Although to most of the world the federal Budget tabled on February 11, 2014 (the "Budget") may have seemed to be of limited consequence, there are many tax practitioners and clients who will be significantly affected by its content. From painful changes to the taxation of estates, to the elimination of immigrant trust planning, severe restrictions on both the offshore regulated "bank" exception and captive insurance programs, as well as a host of pending tightening measures that will impact multinational enterprises and the use of treaties, tax planners will definitely have their hands full.

However, for my clients, I see the biggest impact coming from the proposed consultation process to make changes to the taxation of eligible capital property ("ECP"). While at first glance, a move to coordinate the current ECP regime (the "Current Regime") with the existing capital cost allowance regime seems completely logical and relatively innocuous,¹ it is the change to how