See Chinese version below [中文版参阅下文] 

 

Income Taxes

Under the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the “Tax Act”), a U.S. entity is generally liable to pay taxes on any income earned in Canada, if that U.S. entity is “carrying on business in Canada”. Similar to the Bank Act, the Tax Act does not include a definition for the phrase “carrying on business in Canada”, and accordingly, the meaning of this phrase is derived from case law, as well as guidance from the Canada Revenue Agency (the “CRA”), which is Canada’s tax regulator.

Based on the relevant authorities, a cross-border purchase and sale of receivables or asset-backed securities between a Canadian entity and a U.S. entity would generally not, in and of itself, constitute carrying on business in Canada that would trigger Canadian income tax liability for a U.S. entity. However, if a U.S. entity’s business activities in Canada extend beyond a mere purchase and sale of receivables or asset-backed securities (e.g., servicing and collection of receivables), then it may be subject to Canadian income tax.

In order to avoid the potential for Canadian income tax, a U.S. entity should be careful to conduct its business and affairs in a manner that minimizes touchpoints with Canada, consistent with the code of conduct described above.

Withholding Taxes 

In 2008, the federal government of Canada eliminated withholding tax on most cross-border payments of interest from a Canadian entity to a U.S. entity. As a result, payments of interest on receivables sold by a Canadian originator to a U.S. SPV are generally not subject to withholding taxes. Similarly, payments of interest on asset-backed securities sold by a Canadian entity to a U.S. entity are generally not subject to withholding taxes.

The Tax Act includes certain exceptions to this rule that may result in withholding taxes being levied on interest payments, including where the payor and the payee are not dealing with each other at arm’s length (i.e., the payor and the payee are affiliated with one another), or where the interest is “participating debt interest” (i.e., interest that is contingent or dependent on the use of or production from property in Canada, or that is computed by reference to, among other things, revenues, profits, cash flows or commodity prices).

In addition, it is important to note that withholding tax may apply to certain cross-border payments other than interest payments, including rent or lease payments, royalties and dividends.

Sales Taxes 

Typically, an assignment of receivables by an originator to an SPV will not attract any sales taxes, as a sale of receivables is exempt from the goods and services tax (“GST”) imposed by the federal government of Canada, as well as the provincial sales tax (“PST”) imposed by the provincial governments of certain provinces (which in some provinces, has been harmonized with the GST to form a single harmonized sales tax (“HST”)).

However, in securitization transactions that involve an assignment of tangible property (such as leased cars and equipment) together with the related receivables, the assignment of the tangible property may be subject to sales taxes.

Similarly, in securitization transactions that contemplate payment of servicing fees, these servicing fees may be subject to sales taxes. In order to avoid sales taxes on servicing fees, most transfers of receivables by an originator to an SPV are done on a “fully serviced basis” for a single consideration, which means that the originator, which is typically also the initial servicer, is not paid a separate servicing fee in exchange for servicing the receivables on behalf of the SPV.

税务考虑

所得税

根据《所得税法（加拿大）》（“税法”），如果美国实体“在加拿大开展业务”，则该美国实体通常有责任对在加拿大赚取的任何收入纳税。 与《银行法》类似，《税法》没有对“在加拿大开展业务”一词给予定义，因此，该短语的含义源自案例法以及加拿大税务局（加拿大税务局）的指导。 “CRA”），CRA是加拿大的税务监管机构。

根据有关当局的规定，加拿大实体与美国实体之间跨境买卖应收账款或资产支持证券本身通常不会构成在加拿大开展业务，从而触发加拿大对美国实体的所得税责任。但是，如果美国实体在加拿大的业务活动超出单纯的应收账款或资产支持证券的买卖（例如，应收账款的服务和催收），则可能需要缴纳加拿大所得税。

为避免潜在的加拿大所得税，美国实体在开展业务和事务时应谨慎行事，以使其业务和事务尽量减少与加拿大的接触点，并与上述行为准则保持一致。

预扣税

2008 年，加拿大联邦政府取消了对从加拿大实体到美国实体的大多数跨境利息支付的预扣税。 因此，加拿大发起人向美国 SPV 出售的应收账款的利息支付通常无需缴纳预扣税。 同样，加拿大实体向美国实体出售的资产抵押证券的利息支付通常无需缴纳预扣税。

税法包括此规则的某些例外情况，可能会导致对利息支付征收预扣税，包括付款人和收款人之间没有正常交易的情况（即付款人和收款人彼此有关联），或者利息是“分红债务利息”（即，或有或依赖于加拿大财产的使用或生产的利息，或通过参考收入、利润、现金流等计算得出的利息） 或商品价格）。

此外，值得注意的是，预扣税可能适用于利息支付以外的某些跨境支付，包括租金或租赁支付、特许权使用费和股息。

销售税

通常，发起人将应收账款转让给 SPV 不会产生任何销售税，因为应收账款的销售免征加拿大联邦政府以及省政府征收的商品和服务税 (“GST”)，以及某些省份的省政府征收的销售税 (“PST”)（在某些省份，已与商品及服务税协调形成单一的统一销售税（“HST”））。

然而，在涉及有形资产（如租赁汽车和设备）连同相关应收款的转让的证券化交易中，有形资产的转让可能需要缴纳销售税。

同样，在考虑支付服务商费用的证券化交易中，这些费用可能需要缴纳销售税。 为了避免对服务费征收销售税，发起人向 SPV 的大部分应收账款转让都是在成套服务的基础上进行的，并只收取一种酬金，这意味着发起人（通常也是初始服务商）不会支付单独的服务费，以换取代表 SPV 为应收账款提供服务。