About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

43 Dalhousie L.J. 1 (2020)

handle is hein.journals/dalholwj43 and id is 1 raw text is: 






Catherine   Anne  Brown*           Treaty  Shopping and the New
Joseph   Bogle**                    Multilateral Tax Agreement-Is it
                                    Business   as Usual  in Canada?


On  1 January 2020 the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's
(OECD)  Multilateral Convention (MLI) entered into effect for many of Canada's tax
treaties. New provisions introduced by the MLI, specifically the principal purpose
test (PPT) and a new preamble, raised concerns that the bar to deny treaty benefits
would be substantially lower than the bar previously set by Canada's General Anti-
Avoidance Rule (GAAR).  This paper considers how the MLI will impact access to
treaty benefits in Canada by applying the new MLI measures to treaty shopping
cases previously challenged underthe GAAR. The paper concludes that application
of the PPT by Canadian  courts will result in similar outcomes in these cases. In
short, the MLI will arrive 'with a whimper and not a bang' in Canada. The MLI's
most significant impact on Canadian international tax law will be the patchwork
quilt of tax avoidance regimes that will govern Canada's tax treaties in the future.


La Convention multilaterale (IM), nee de l'Initiative de I'OCDE e vue de prevenir
l'erosion de la base d'imposition et le transfert des benefices (BEPS) et lutter contre
l'4vasion fiscale internationale, est entree en vigueur au Canada le 1er decembre
2019. L'IM entrainera des modifications e de nombreuses conventions fiscales
du Canada,  notamment  l'ajout de nouvelles mesures pour contrer les strategies
d'4vitement fiscal. II est generalement admis que  ces mesures  abaisseront
considerablement la barre pour 4liminer les avantages des conventions fiscales
qui avait et4 fixee par la regle generale anti-evitement (RGAE) du Canada, et
remettront en question le statu quo selon lequel, e des fins fiscales, le a chalandage
fiscal)) n'est pas en soi a intrinsequement correct ou incorrect .>> Le present article
remet en question cette conclusion. Le principal changement qui sera apporte par
l'IM aux 93 conventions fiscales du Canada consistera en une serie de regimes
d'4vitement fiscal differents selon qu'il s'agit d'une convention couverte ou non et
selon les mesures d'4vitement fiscal specifiques qu'elle adopte.


















*   Professor of Law, University of Calgary.
**  Law Student, University of Calgary, JD 2020.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most