Scope of advance income tax rulings

Advance income tax rulings are provided on proposed transactions only. Advance income tax rulings enable taxpayers to decide on a particular course of action and are issued for transactions that are seriously contemplated and are not of a hypothetical nature.

Advance income tax rulings are not issued on completed transactions or on series of transactions that are significantly advanced. Completed transactions include transactions, that are closed subject to certain conditions being met and have an effective date, which would be prior to the issuance of the requested advance income tax ruling.

We will consider ruling on certain significant proposed transactions even though they may relate to completed transactions or past events.

Rulings are also issued on questions of fact but only if it is possible to determine all the material facts and those facts can reasonably be expected to prevail. For more information, see (J) in the exclusions.

Rulings given by the Directorate applies only to the taxpayer(s) identified in the ruling. In certain cases, advance income tax rulings issued apply to a group of unnamed persons; e.g., subscribers to shares under a prospectus. Advance income tax rulings apply only to the transactions specified in the ruling.