Immunovaccine Technologies Inc. v. Canada (SCC – Leave Application Dismissed – March 26, 2015).
Précis: On March 26, 2015 the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision dismissing the application of Immunovaccine Technologies Inc. for leave to appeal from a decision of the Federal Court of Appeal holding that loans received by it from the Atlantice Canada Opportunities Agency (“ACOA”) were government assistance which reduced that amount of its scientific research and experimental development (“SRED”) claims.
Decision: Immunovaccine received loans from ACOA in the period from 2005 through 2008. CRA treated those loans as “government assistance” reducing the amount of its SRED claims. Immunovaccine appealed unsuccessfully to the Tax Court and then appealed unsuccessfully to the Federal Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal held that although the loans were repayable in some circumstances the language found in the definition of “government assistance” in subsection 127(9) of the
Income Tax Act contemplated arrangements “which are not purely gratuitous and unilateral”. The application for leave was dismissed with costs.
Source: Supreme Advocacy Letter #16
http://supremeadvocacy.ca/ 