Articles

The Ministry of Finance on April 13, 2017 announced supplemental reporting requirements ‎pursuant to recent amendments to the Land Transfer Tax Act. Effective April 24, 2017, prescribed information on the purchasers and property being conveyed must be filed through a separate report through Teranet‎ eXpress. This information form is separate from the Land Transfer Tax affidavit that forms part of the electronic or paper registration.

Relief from the payment of capital gains tax when a principal residence is sold or gifted (or disposed on death) is no longer automatic. To benefit from the principal residence exemption (and not pay capital gains tax), individuals will have to report the disposition and designation of the principal residence in prescribed form to the CRA for the year of disposition.

In this "tongue firmly in cheek" paper addressed to clients, Murray Box of Pallett Valo highlights the dangers of a tenant signing a landlord's standard form of non-residential lease without negotiating, understanding and, sometimes, even reading it. Enjoy!! -- Ray Mikkola --

Jeff Lem has written an interesting and entertaining article about his experiences as a neophyte Law Society Bencher, the way in which the Law Society's. in general, and Convocation's. in particular, function is somewhat opaque to most members of the profession. Jeff's article is a "must read" in particular for those of us who from the solicitor side of the bar who have decided to run in the upcoming Bencher election. SO... VOTE!

For the purposes of the Assessment Act, agreements with significant reservation of rights to the landlord may still be characterized as a lease if the reservations are consistent with commercial leases and if the agreement contains other indicators of a lease such as the quiet enjoyment and the habendum clauses.

This brief article addresses a reference in the 2014 Ontario Budget regarding two proposed amendments to the Land Transfer Tax Act: addressing certain "aggressive" tax structures that employ the de minimis partnership transfer exception, and the introduction of a general anti-avoidance rule into the Land Transfer Tax Act. Thanks to Steve Pearlstein for pointing out to me this part of the Budget as tabled.

Craig Carter provides his interpretation as to the effect of this Ontario Court of Appeal case on the role of lawyers respecting due diligence inquiries for purchaser clients, among other issues. He highlights the importance of ensuring that there is a "bright line" separating the lawyer's responsibility and the client's responsibility for various matters on a file, particularly where responsibilities are sometimes allocated to the lawyer and sometimes to the client.

This brief article provides an update on the status of the Ontario Government's intention to allow agreements of purchase and sale for land to be executed by digital signatures, some of the challenges associated with doing so, and the role of various stakeholders in the process.

Recently it has become the standard for real estate agents in Ontario to have their seller clients complete a document called a Seller Property Information Statement (SPIS).