Al Meghji

Al Meghji, Partner, Taxation

Contact Information

  • tel: 416.862.5677
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Areas of Expertise

Bar Admission

Ontario, 1990 ; Alberta, 1995

Education

  • Harvard Law School, LL.M.
  • Dalhousie Law School, LL.B.
  • University of Alberta, B.Sc.

Office

Toronto

Language(s)

English

Biography

Al’s practice is restricted to tax litigation. He has represented many of Canada's largest corporations (including many in the oil & gas, mining, manufacturing, financial services and telecommunications sectors) before various courts including the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. Al has been involved with tax issues such as the GAAR and tax avoidance, computation of profit, the meaning of inventory, interest deductibility, treaty interpretation, corporate reorganizations and information demands. He is a Chartered Accountant and a member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Alberta. Al is a frequent speaker at various tax conferences including the World Tax Conference. He splits his time between the firm’s Toronto and Calgary offices.

Notable Matters

  • The Queen v. GlaxoSmithKline Inc., 2012 SCC 52.
  • The Queen v. General Electric Capital Canada Inc., 2010 FCA 344 – The first transfer pricing case in Canada to apply the modern transfer pricing regime set out in section 247 of the Income Tax Act (Canada), in addition to the regime set out in former subsection 69(2).
  • TD Securities (USA) LLC v. The Queen, 2010 TCC 186 - Overturned the CRA’s long-standing policy of denying treaty benefits to US limited liability companies.
  • Canada Trustco Mortgage Co. v. The Queen, 2005 SCC 54; 2004 DTC 6119 (F.C.A.) – GAAR did not apply to a sale-leaseback transaction.
  • CIBC World Markets Inc. v. The Queen, 2011 FCA 270
  • The Toronto-Dominion Bank v. The Queen, 2011 FCA 221– Capital loss held not artificial.
  • The Queen v. 3850625 Canada Inc., 2011 FCA 117 – Decision is favourable for many resource business seeking a broad interpretation of the resource allowance rules.
  • Cameco Corporation v. The Queen, 2011 TCC 636 and 2011 TCC 356- Successful motion to strike portion of the Crown’s pleadings. 
  • General Electric Capital Canada Inc. v. The Queen, 2010 TCC 490- The decision awarded the highest amount of costs ever by the TCC to the taxpayer.
  • Imperial Oil Resources Ltd. V. Canada (Attorney General), 2009 FCA 325 – Interpretation of remission orders.
  • Alberta Power (2000) Ltd. v. The Queen, 2009 TCC 412 – Taxpayer successfully treated lump sum payment of $59.7 million as a capital receipt and not an income receipt.
  • Alcatel 2005 TCC 149.
  • Gifford v. The Queen, 2004 SCC 15 – Interest expense is current expense to moneylenders.
  • The Queen v. Imperial Oil of Canada Limited, 2004 DTC 6044 (F.C.A.) – GAAR did not require amount of taxpayer loans to bank subsidiaries to be included in large corporations investment allowance.
  • Imperial Oil Limited v. The Queen, 2004 DTC 2377 (T.C.C.) – Deductibility of foreign exchange loss under paragraph 20(1)(f).
  • Petro Canada v. The Queen, 2004 FCA 158 – Tax treatment of outlays in respect of seismic.
  • General Motors of Canada Limited v. The Queen, 2004 FCA 370 and 2003 DTC 153 (T.C.C.) – Tax treatment of contingent liabilities.
  • The Queen v. Imperial Oil Limited and Inco Limited, 2003 DTC 5485 (F.C.A.) – Taxpayer has right to appeal 90 days following objection.
  • Placer Dome Canada Limited v. Minister of Finance of Ontario, 61 O.R. (3d) 628 (Ont. Sup. Ct.) – Taxation of hedging gain under Ontario Mining Tax Act.

Affiliations

  • American Bar Association
  • Canadian Tax Foundation
  • Canadian Petroleum Tax Society
  • The Advocates’ Society

Industry Recognition

  • The Best Lawyers in Canada 2013: Tax Law
  • World Tax 2012: Tax Litigation
  • Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business 2013: Tax Litigation (Star Performer)
  • The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2012: Corporate Tax and Corporate Tax Litigation (Most Frequently Recommended
  • The Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the 500 Leading Lawyers in Canada 2013: Corporate Tax; Corporate Tax Litigation
  • The Lexpert Guide to the Leading US/Canada Cross-border Litigation Lawyers in Canada 2012: Corporate Tax
  • Lexpert Special Edition: Canada’s Leading Litigation Lawyers 2012
  • Expert Guides: The Legal Media Group Guide to the World’s Leading Lawyers 2011: Tax Advisers; Transfer Pricing Advisers
  • Who’s Who Legal 2012: Corporate Tax

Downloadable Profile

Al Meghji