At the 2016 CTF Annual Conference, Q13, CRA indicated that the s. 13(38)(d)(iii) election to maintain the effect of the s. 14(1)(b) inclusion is unavailable where a taxpayer’s only intangible asset was internally-generated goodwill with no cost – so that the taxpayer could not be said to have made or incurred an ECE in respect of the business, thereby ousting the election.
CRA confirmed the flip side of the coin: even a trivial previous ECE expenditure respecting the business, such as incorporation expense or a trade mark expenditure, will eliminate this particular issue.