The Tax Court of Canada (the TCC or the Court) published on September 26 its decision in Cameco Corporation (2018 TCC 195), resolving a long-running dispute between Cameco Corporation (Cameco, the Appellant) and the Minister of National Revenue (the Minister or the Crown) involving reassessments to Cameco's 2003, 2005, and 2006 taxation years.
The adjustments made in the reassessments related to the prices used in the purchase and sale of uranium contracts involving Cameco, Cameco Europe (CESA, a Swiss branch of Cameco's Luxembourg subsidiary) and, later, its Swiss subsidiary (CEL), as well as its US-based subsidiary (Cameco US) and third parties. The Minister's reassessments were based on arguments that Cameco's structure, specifically the reorganization that took place in 1999, was a sham. The Minister further argued that CESA/CEL performed few if any valuable functions during the years under consideration and, accordingly, reassessments were warranted pursuant to either paragraphs 247(2)(b) and (d) or paragraphs 247(2)(a) and (c) of the Income Tax Act (the Act), the latter being the transfer pricing provisions more typically employed (and referred to by the TCC as the traditional transfer pricing rules).
