Felesky Flynn LLP is one of Canada’s leading firms dedicating itself to providing legal advice in the complex area of taxation law. Firm partners all have extensive backgrounds in taxation law and several members of the firm also are Chartered Professional Accountants. In addition, members of the firm serve, or have served, on the Joint Committee on Taxation of the Canadian Bar Association and the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada, as Governors of the Canadian Tax Foundation and on the Tax Court of Canada Bench and Bar Committee, among various other organizations.
The firm represents a broad spectrum of clients from individuals to international corporations. The firm advises on all aspects of corporate and personal tax planning, including in the context of mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate finance, specialty financial products and corporate reorganizations. The firm also represents clients in negotiating tax matters with the relevant authorities and in tax litigation at the federal and provincial levels.
The firm’s principal areas of practice are:
Commodity Tax: The firm acts as tax counsel to national and international corporations, individuals, not-for-profit organizations and other entities on commodity tax matters, particularly with respect to the goods and services tax and harmonized sales tax (“GST/HST”). Members of the firm have extensive experience with the implementation of the GST/HST, its interpretation and application. The firm advises clients on the GST/HST implications of commercial transactions and deals with the Canada Revenue Agency and appears before the Courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada, on GST/HST matters.
Members of the firm have served on various GST/HST committees, including the Canadian Bar Association Special Committee on GST and Legal Services, the Ad Hoc GST Committee of the Joint Committee of the Canadian Bar Association and the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada, the Sales and Commodity Tax Committee of the Canadian Bar Association, and as the Chair of the national Commodity and Sales Taxation Section of the Canadian Bar Association.
Corporate Tax Planning: Felesky Flynn LLP acts as tax counsel to local and international corporations, ranging from private, owner-managed corporations to the largest public corporations in Canada. Our engagements include tax strategies for mergers and acquisitions, dispositions and a variety of corporate workouts, asset transfers, amalgamations, wind-ups, reorganizations and matters relating to shareholders and creditors, as well as general ongoing business matters.
The firm provides corporate tax planning across all major industries, including real estate development, mining, healthcare, technology, manufacturing, retail, communications and transportation. The firm has special expertise in resource taxation.
International Tax Planning: Felesky Flynn LLP offers a wide range of services to Canadian clients investing outside of Canada and International clients investing into Canada. Our extensive Canadian tax experience is combined with a strong working knowledge of the tax provisions of many foreign jurisdictions (including the United States) as they relate to Canadian federal and provincial tax law.
The firm has extensive experience in formulating strategies which are tax-effective from a Canadian perspective in a number of areas. These areas include: doing business abroad, including through low tax jurisdictions; the remittance of foreign earnings from foreign subsidiaries of Canadian corporations; planning for interaction with Canada’s network of international tax treaties and international tax issues; transfer pricing; personal emigration from and immigration to Canada; and customs planning, including customs valuations, tariff classification and rules of origin considerations.
Personal Tax Planning: Felesky Flynn LLP advises individuals and their legal, accounting and financial advisors in connection with the formulation and implementation of personal tax planning strategies, including estate planning, reorganizations of closely-held corporations and planning for professional and business people. The firm has considerable experience in tax-efficient structuring for the sale or purchase of a business.
Resource Taxation: Felesky Flynn LLP has unparalleled experience in the area of tax law in the resource industry. We are actively involved in the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and our lawyers serve or have served on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Petroleum Tax Society and on the faculty for the in-depth resource taxation course of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada.
Tax Representation & Litigation: The firm conducts an extensive representation and litigation practice relating to income tax and GST/HST assessments and reassessments. This area of practice includes the preparation of detailed submissions for presentation to the government department administering the taxation legislation (usually the Canada Revenue Agency or the Alberta Tax and Revenue Administration), the preparation and filing of pleadings, and representation of clients at trial or on appeal.
The firm also has considerable experience with voluntary disclosures, fairness requests and judicial reviews of decisions of the relevant tax authorities. Members of the firm have appeared in: the Tax Court of Canada; the Federal Court; the Federal Court of Appeal; the Supreme Court of Canada; the Canadian International Trade Tribunal; the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta; and the Provincial Court of Alberta.
Wills and Estate Planning: Felesky Flynn LLP works with clients to design effective wills, trusts, and estate plans that reflect our clients’ needs. Our experienced advisors deal with will preparation, wealth transfer, estate planning, business succession, trusts, enduring powers of attorney and personal directives. We also support the administration of estates and the transfer of assets to beneficiaries once an individual has died. This includes handling all matters relating to contested estates and the resolution of those disputes through negotiation, mediation, arbitration and litigation.
Our team has extensive experience dealing with these matters with a particular emphasis on ensuring that beneficiaries receive the greatest benefit possible from the estate and the least amount of tax is paid within the rules and requirements of the Income Tax Act.
