General principles would be applied in determining whether flow-through shares were acquired on capital account. The fact that there was a tax benefit to be derived from their purchase would not itself result in their being acquired as an adventure in the nature of trade. CRA also stated:
...where a taxpayer is obligated to sell a particular property for a pre-determined sale price that is less than its original acquisition price such that it results in an "economic loss" (ignoring the value of any relevant tax attributes connected with the property) but results in a gain or profit for income tax purposes as a result of the operation of the rules in the Act, the courts have held that such gain or profit cannot, absent the presence of other factors, result in income earned from an adventure in the nature of trade.[1] [Footnote 1. See Loewen v. The Queen, 94 DTC 6255 (FCA); Moloney v. The Queen, 92 DTC 6570(FCA); Paquet v. The Queen, 95 DTC 868 (TCC); and Richer v. The Queen, 2009 DTC 1077 (TCC).]