A Canadian resident trust makes a loan to a beneficiary, who uses the loan proceeds for investment purposes. Later, the trust distributes the loan as an in specie capital or income distribution to the beneficiary. Is such distribution a settlement of debt and, if so, do the s. 80 debt forgiveness rules apply?
After noting that the extinguishment of the debt by merger (in the common law provinces) or confusion (in Quebec) would represent its settlement, CRA went on to indicate that since the extinguishment of the loan does not constitute a payment in satisfaction of the principal amount of the obligation, it would not constitute an amount described in paragraph (a) of the “forgiven amount” definition and would also not come within paras. (b) to (l). Therefore, the settlement of the loan without any payment would give rise to a forgiven amount equal to element A in the formula.
However, in some specific situations, when a commercial obligation is extinguished under the doctrine of merger or confusion, and it does not constitute a payment under the applicable law, the CRA considers that they do not give rise to a forgiven amount for purposes of s. 80. Based on the facts and assumptions, CRA was of the view that this position would apply to the loan extinguishment in this example.