Program

Friday, February 8, 2019

Venue: Lamont Centre (130 Queen Street West Toronto, Ontario M5H 2N6)

8:30 - 9:00 Registration & Breakfast

9:00 - 9:15  Welcoming Remarks

Moderator: Jinyan Li (Osgoode)

Prof. Lisa Philipps, Provost and Vice-President Academic, York University

Prof. Mary Condon, Dean (Interim), Osgoode Hall Law School

Prof. Graeme Cooper, University of Sydney Law School

Ms. Heather Evans, Executive Director and CEO, Canadian Tax Foundation

Mr. Patrick Marley, IFA Canada 

9:20 - 10:35 Session 1:  The Future of Income Tax (1)

Moderator: Heather Evans (Canadian Tax Foundation)

  1. Taxing in An Uncertain World, Richard Bird (Toronto) [PPT]
  2. Rationalizing the Canadian Income Tax System, Robin Boadway (Queen’s) [PPT]
  3. Navigating Disruption: The Politics of Business Tax Reform as Two-level Game, Geoffrey Hale (Lethbridge) [PPT]

Discussants: Victor Thuronyi (IMF [retired]) and Graeme Cooper (Sydney) [PPT]

10:35 - 11:00 Coffee Break

11:00 - 12:15 Session 2: The Future of Income Tax (2)

Moderator:  Albert Baker (Deloitte)

  1. The Future of the Progressive Personal Income Tax: How High Can It Go? Kevin Milligan (UBC) [PPT]
  2. A Supplemental Personal Expenditure Tax for Canada, Victor Thuronyi (IMF [retired])

 Discussants: Richard Bird (Toronto) and Robin Boadway (Queen’s)

12:15 - 13:15 Lunch

13:15 - 14:30 Session 3 Tax Transplants in A Border-less world?

Moderator:  Tamara Larre (Saskatchewan)

  1. Do Academic Experts Matter in Tax Transplants? Kim Brooks (Dalhousie)
  2. Should Canada Enhance How it Regulates Its Tax Practitioners? Chris Sprysak (Alberta) [PPT]
  3. Moving to A More 'Certain' Test for Tax Residence: Lessons for Canada?  Michael Dirkis (Sydney) [PPT]

Discussants: Rick Krever (Western Australia) and Albert Baker (Deloitte)

14:30 - 15:00 Coffee Break

15:00 - 16:15 Session 4: Must Tax Law Be A Hostage to Private Law Constructions?

Moderator: Geoffrey Turner (Davies)

  1. Charity Law Reform in Canada: Moving from Patchwork to Substantive Reform? Samuel Singer (Thompson Rivers)
  2. Tax Law as Accessory: Rescission, Rectification, and the Relation of Trust Law and Tax Law after Re Pallen Trust, Bradley Bryan (Victoria)
  3. Extranational Taxation: Canada and UNCLOS Section 82, Micah Burch (Sydney) [PPT]

Discussants: Kim Brooks (Dalhousie), Adam Parachin (Osgoode)

16:15 - 17:30 Cocktail & Networking

                           Room: Convocation Hall (2nd Floor, Law Society of Ontario)

Saturday, February 9, 2019

Venue: Lamont Centre (130 Queen Street West Toronto, Ontario M5H 2N6)

8:30 - 9:00    Registration & Breakfast

9:00 - 10:30  Session 5:  General Anti-avoidance Rule and Legal Ambiguity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence?

Moderator:  Daniel Sandler (EY Law)

  1. Tim Edgar's Contribution to Canadian and International GAAR Literature, Rick Krever (Western Australia) [PPT]
  2. GAAR in Action : Judicial Attributes and Transactions Types, Thaddeus Hwong (York) [PPT]
  3. In Defence of an Abuse Concept, David Duff (Allard) [PPT]
  4. Ahead by a Century: Tim Edgar, Machine-Learning, and the Future of Anti-Avoidance, Benjamin Alarie (Toronto) [PPT]

 Discussants: Graeme Cooper (Sydney) and Geoffrey Turner (Davies)

10:30 - 11:00 Coffee Break

11:00 - 12:15 Session 6: BEPS and International Tax?

Moderator:  Joanne Magee (York)

  1. The Relationship between Restrictions on the Deduction of Interest under Canadian Law and and Canadian Tax Treaties, Brian Arnold (Canadian Tax Foundation) [PPT]
  2. The Transfer Pricing Profit-split Method after BEPS, Mike Kobetsky (Melbourne) [PPT]
  3. BEPS and the Emerging Global Approach to Taxing Multinational Enterprises, Jinyan Li (Osgoode), Jin Bao (Osgoode, JD candidate) and Huaning (Christina) Li (Osgoode, PhD candidate) [PPT]

Discussants: Allison Christians (McGill) and Graeme Cooper (Sydney)

12:15 - 13:15 Lunch

13:15 - 14:30 Session 7:  Tax, Technology and Digital Economy (1)

Moderator:  Martha O’Brien (Victoria)

  1. The Future of Work: The Gig Economy and Pressures on the Tax System, Celeste Black  (Sydney) [PPT]
  2. Taxing Tips in An Electronic-Payments World, Alan Macnaughton (Waterloo) and Luke Reed (PwC) [PPT]
  3. Automation and Workers: Making the Canadian Income Tax System Fair Again, Jinyan Li (Osgoode), Arjin Choi (Osgoode, JD candidate) and Cameron Smith (Osgoode, JD candidate) [PPT]

 Discussants: Benjamin Alarie (Toronto) and Robin Boadway (Queen’s)

14:30 - 14:45 Coffee Break

14:45 - 16:00 Session 8:  Tax, Technology and Digital Economy (2)

Moderator:  Shawn Porter (Deloitte)

  1. The Digital Services Tax as a Tax on Location-Specific Rent, Wei Cui (UBC) [PPT]
  2. Digital Value Creation and the Tax Nexus Frontier, Allison Christians (McGill)
  3. Sharing Tax Information in the 21st Century, Arthur Cockfield (Queen’s) [PPT]

 Discussants:  Colin Campbell (Western) and Kim Brooks (Dalhousie)

16:00 - 16:10 Closing Remarks