Log in or register
Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn

ARTICLE · 04 AUGUST 2026

What A Tax Opinion Answers, And What It Doesn't

Counter Tax Litigators LLP
Counter Tax Litigators LLP
Contributor
Counter Tax Litigators LLP

Counter Tax Litigators LLP

Counter is a Toronto-based law firm that specializes in resolving tax controversies across Canada....

View firm profile
Explore more from Counter Tax Litigators LLP

Tax opinions answer narrower questions than most readers assume, with limits written into assumptions, scope sections, and dates—and others not written anywhere. Understanding what an opinion actually supports, who it protects, and which questions it leaves unanswered becomes critical when companies face CRA reassessment under notice of objection deadlines.

CanadaTax
Counter Tax Litigators
Counter Tax Litigators
Author LinkedIn connections

Companies discover what the opinion doesn’t answer on the re-read, often under a notice of objection deadline.

A tax opinion answers a narrower question than most readers assume. Some of the limits are written into the document — in its assumptions, its scope section, its definitions paragraph, and its date, the parts read least and usually last. The rest is not written anywhere: who supplied the facts, the issues no one evaluated, and whether the transaction as implemented matches the one described. Neither part announces itself; sometimes that is drafting, sometimes it is design. Either way, the job of working it out falls to the reader, because the consequences of getting it wrong do too. This chapter is about reading both.

We operate a free-to-view policy, asking only that you register in order to read all of our content. Please login or register to view the rest of this article.

Register for freeORLog in

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

View source

Related Articles

Legal Intelligence Newsletters: sign up for the latest legal and regulatory news on your chosen topics

Read more about

Related Comparative Guides

See more popular content from

Article

Cryptocurrency Held Through A Bare Trustee: Tax Treatment And The 2026 Reporting Obligations

If you hold cryptocurrency, NFTs or other blockchain assets in someone else’s wallet, or hold assets in your own wallet for someone else, the arrangement is very likely a bare trust. Until recently, that carried almost no compliance consequence. It now carries three reporting obligations to track: the T3 filing for 2026, the T1135, and the proposed Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework from 2027.
CanadaTax
Rotfleisch & Samulovitch P.C.
Rotfleisch & Samulovitch P.C.
Article

Canadian Prime Minister Announces ‘Productivity Mega Deduction’

Canada's new Productivity Mega Deduction permanently provides immediate expensing for a wide range of depreciable property and Canadian development expenses, dramatically expanding the scope beyond the previously announced Productivity Super Deduction. The measure aims to reduce Canada's marginal effective tax rate on new business investment to 6.4%, positioning it as the lowest among major economies and less than half the U.S. rate.
CanadaTax
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
Article

Productivity Mega Deduction: Key Tax Measures Announced At The Canada Investment Summit

Canada has introduced a permanent Productivity Mega Deduction allowing immediate expensing of up to 100% of eligible capital property costs and Canadian development expenses acquired after September 15, 2026. This measure aims to boost business investment and strengthen Canada's tax competitiveness by expanding immediate expensing eligibility from 15% to approximately two-thirds of capital investments, while reducing the country's marginal effective tax rate to 6.4%.
CanadaTax
McCarthy Tétrault
McCarthy Tétrault
Article

How To Appeal The Toronto Vacant Home (VHT) Tax: Here’s What One Landlord Did To Fight VHT Assessment

Since 2022, the City of Toronto has imposed an annual Vacant Home Tax (VHT) on residential units left unoccupied for more than six months of the year. For most owners the tax is an afterthought: file the annual declaration, confirm the unit was lived in, and move on. But when the City’s administrative process breaks down, an owner can find themselves fighting a five-figure tax bill over a unit they insist was never vacant at all.
CanadaTax
Rotfleisch & Samulovitch P.C.
Rotfleisch & Samulovitch P.C.
Article

Bill C-31 Gives The CRA More Power And A Greater Advantage In Tax Disputes

Bill C-31 expands the Canada Revenue Agency's audit powers while doubling the amounts heard under the Tax Court's Informal Procedure, creating a structural imbalance where the Crown gains greater means to build its case while taxpayers lose procedural safeguards to test it. The Canadian Institute for Tax Controversy Studies argues that these changes require safeguards including advance disclosure, pre-hearing examinations, and independent oversight before implementation.
CanadaTax
Counter Tax Litigators LLP
Counter Tax Litigators LLP
Article

What A Tax Opinion Supports Before Implementation

A tax opinion may confirm that a filing position is defensible, but does it address how that structure will perform when the Canada Revenue Agency challenges it? This analysis examines the gap between implementation support and dispute readiness, exploring what remains unanswered after the opinion is delivered and why multiple participants may assess different aspects without evaluating the structure outside the implementation frame.
CanadaTax
Counter Tax Litigators LLP
Counter Tax Litigators LLP