Supreme Court of Canada Upholds Appeals Court Judgment that Restructuring to Benefit from Tax Treaty with Luxembourg Not Subject to GAAR

On 26 November 2021, the Supreme Court of Canada issued its judgment in the case Canada v. Alta Energy Luxembourg S.A.R.L. (Alta Luxembourg). The case concerns the application of Canada's general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) to deny Alta Luxembourg from benefiting from the capital gains provisions of the 1999 Canada-Luxembourg tax treaty in relation to gains from the alienation of shares in a Canadian corporation, Alta Canada. In February 2020, the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal issued its j…