Please note that the following document, although believed to be correct at the time of issue, may not represent the current position of the Department.
Prenez note que ce document, bien qu'exact au moment émis, peut ne pas représenter la position actuelle du ministère.
APFF - 1995
Question 26
Paragraph 12(1)(g) of the Act
In an administrative position, Revenue Canada stated that paragraph 12(1)(g) of the Act may apply when shares are sold under an earnout clause. However, case law (La Succession de Feu Jean-Paul Rouleau c. Le ministre du revenu national (91 DTC 115), Frederick Cromwell and Rose Cromwell v. The Minister of National Revenue (90 DTC 1335) and The Queen v. Mel-Bar Ranches Ltd. (89 DTC 5189)) appears to reject this interpretation of paragraph 12(1)(g) of the Act. Does Revenue Canada plan to amend its administrative position with respect to the application of paragraph 12(1)(g) of the Act when shares are sold under an earnout agreement?
Answer by the Department of Revenue
Interpretation Bulletin IT-426 - Shares sold subject to an earnout agreement - sets out the Department’s position when shares are sold under an earnout agreement. Paragraph 1 of this bulletin specifies that “From a legal point of view, it is possible that paragraph 12(1)(g) would apply to all payments made under the earnout clause...”. The Department recognizes that the application of paragraph 12(1)(g) may lead to unsatisfactory results for both the taxpayer and the Department. For this reason, the Department allows the use of the cost recovery method for reporting the gain or the loss on the sale of shares under an earnout agreement, where the conditions set out in paragraph 1 of Interpretation Bulletin IT-426 are met. The Department does not plan to change its administrative position, set out in Interpretation Bulletin IT-426, as a result of the decisions handed down in the three cases cited above, since those judgments do not deal with this administrative position. However, the Department will take into account the rulings made in these cases when dealing with identical situations.