Calculated risk often missing from calculus

Getting up on stage to follow the dean of the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Business is a daunting challenge.

Unless, of course, he’s your old high school buddy.

Such is the case for Roger Martin and writer Malcolm Gladwell, whose mothers were close friends while the pair attended the same Waterloo, Ont. high school, and Martin’s youngest brother was Gladwell’s best friend.

Given their history, it was no surprise the pair was comfortable enough to engage in an unscripted conversation, living-room style, as a preface to Gladwell’s own talk to the CMA’s Big Ideas Conference 2011 in Toronto.

Landmark case puts added focus on good judgment

The newest required reading for accountants is Copthorne Holdings Ltd. v. Canada, a recent decision from the Supreme Court of Canada that reaffirms the power of the Income Tax Act’s general anti-avoidance rule and the Canada Revenue Agency’s right to apply it broadly.

In this case, that right involved a savings of more than $67-million in paid-up capital that was transformed into an $8.7-million tax bill by the end of the court’s 71-page decision.

"The case will be one of the leading cases on GAAR for a long time to come," said Evy Moskowitz, a senior partner in Toronto with Moskowitz & Meredith LLP, a tax law firm affiliated with KPMG LLP.