Capabilities
Engagement begins at reassessment, where leverage shifts
Control is set early — in the record established with the CRA and in how leadership explains the dispute to partners, boards, and lenders.
1 | Rapid Diagnosis and Stabilization
A reassessment introduces uncertainty before the dispute is fully understood. Rapid diagnosis stabilizes the situation.
- classify the dispute and its governing issues
- frame the working exposure range and the assumptions behind it
- stabilize positions before they harden into the record
Insight > CRA Reassessment | What Happens Next
2 | Dispute Feasibility & Strategy
Strategic analysis defines the course of the dispute and the target outcome.
- assess the facts and legal issues that define the case
- forecast exposure ranges and the uncertainties driving them
- compare viable resolution paths across negotiation, objection, and court
3 | Arena Execution
After the strategy is set, the dispute moves forward within the chosen arena.
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advance the matter within CRA review or before the Tax Court
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manage negotiation dynamics within that environment
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preserve credibility and leverage as the dispute progresses
Insight > How Courts Decide When a Transaction Can Be Read Two Ways
4 | Stakeholder Alignment & Reporting
Partners, boards, lenders, and auditors receive disciplined reporting throughout the dispute.
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establish the narrative carried to boards, lenders, and auditors
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maintain disciplined updates as the dispute evolves
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preserve narrative stability as facts and positions develop
Insight > Management’s First Explanation in a CRA Dispute
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Governance & Standards > How work is governed
The Work > The analytical standard behind every output
Insights
Key Takeaways Richard Homburg claimed a deduction that would have cut the tax on his $1.16 million stock option benefit in half. The CRA said his control and influence over the company meant Homburg...
Bill C-31 gives the CRA more power and a greater advantage in tax disputes. At audit, it adds a notice of non-compliance with daily penalties and suspends the reassessment period while a notice is...
Key Takeaways The result was fixed before Chobham Corporation Ltd. filed its Notice of Appeal. In many cases, the Tax Court can overturn a reassessment; this was not that kind of case. Internal...
A tax opinion answers a narrower question than most readers assume. Some of the limits are written into the document — in its assumptions, its scope section, its definitions paragraph, and its date....
A tax plan is moving toward implementation. The tax opinion has been delivered. The first question is whether the filing position is defensible. A tax opinion may answer that question and stop...
A company receives a CRA reassessment after prior planning work and tax opinions supported the transactions or filing positions. The company believes the core risk has already been addressed. The...


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