Expertise

Practice Profile

Tax & Trusts

The Tax & Trusts Group at Cassels Brock applies expertise, knowledge and skills in both technical and practical aspects of taxation and estates to provide effective responses and innovative solutions to our clients' needs. Our clients may seek advice on tax matters alone, or integrated with regular commercial advice.

Our tax lawyers work closely with members of our Business Law Group, which includes mergers and acquisitions lawyers, in planning for and structuring mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. We also offer a broad range of tax advice on securities matters, including the structure of security offerings and preparation of tax opinions for prospectuses and offering memoranda.

Our tax and trusts litigators have represented clients at all court levels on various tax and estates matters, including director’s liability, professional negligence claims, appeals of income tax and sales tax reassessments and estate litigation.

The Cassels Brock Tax & Trusts Group represents a diverse range of clients, including major, publicly-traded companies; e-commerce companies; high net-worth individuals; accounting firms; governments and their agencies; foreign investors in Canada; Canadian companies expanding abroad; owner-managers of medium-sized businesses; universities; charities; and not-for-profit associations.

Our tax lawyers have acted for clients in:

• Cross-border acquisitions
• Corporate reorganizations
• Estate planning
• Joint ventures
• Offshore subsidiaries and trusts
• Inbound and outbound investments
• Transfers of technology
• Aircraft financing
• Registration of charities and not-for-profit organizations
• Non-resident taxation and dispute resolution with federal and provincial revenue authorities
• Commodity tax

Our trust lawyers have acted for clients in:

• Will and trust drafting
• Succession planning
• Estate administration
• Elder law
• Matters of mental competence
• Estate and trust dispute resolution

Our lawyers have provided tax and trusts advice in respect of many prominent transactions, including recently:

• Acting for the underwriters in Canada’s largest public construction and infrastructure development company’s completion of a private placement offering of $32.5 million subordinated convertible debentures
• Representing a cargo airline income fund in connection with its conversion to an income trust and initial public offering
• Advising a Canadian TSX-listed, multinational mining company on tax planning matters in connection with recent acquisitions and transactions
• Representing a major pharmaceutical company and its Canadian subsidiary regarding various asset dispositions
• Representing professional entertainers and athletes in structuring tax planning strategies