Daniel Downie is an associate in McCarthy Tétrault’s National Tax Group, based in the firm’s Calgary office. He maintains a diverse tax practice encompassing both tax planning and dispute resolution matters.

Daniel regularly assists clients with corporate tax matters in both domestic and cross-border contexts, including the income tax aspects of corporate reorganizations, financing transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and employee compensation matters. Daniel also has experience assisting clients with complex tax controversy matters at the audit and objection stages as well as those in litigation before the courts.

Daniel received his Juris Doctor (with distinction) from the University of Alberta in 2019, where he competed in both the Bowman National Tax Moot and the Harold G. Fox National Intellectual Property Moot and worked as a research assistant for the Health Law Institute.

Daniel was called to the Alberta Bar in 2020. He is a member of the Law Society of Alberta, the Canadian Bar Association, the Canadian Petroleum Tax Society and the International Fiscal Association. Daniel is the Chair of the Executive Committee of the CBA Alberta Taxation Law (South) Section and is a member of the Canadian Tax Foundation – Young Practitioners’ Steering Committee (Calgary). Prior to joining McCarthy Tétrault, Daniel practiced as a tax associate in the Calgary office of a large national law firm.

Publications & Speaking Engagements

• Guest Lecturer, Basic Tax, Thompson Rivers University Faculty of Law
• “Select Tax Issues in Cryptocurrency Transactions”, Canadian Bar Association (Alberta), Taxation Section Presentation, November 2022
• “Legislative Update: Draft Tax Proposals”, Canadian Bar Association (Alberta), Taxation Section Presentation, March 2022
• “TCC on Retrospective Modification of Tax Positions for Loss Years”, Canadian Tax Focus 11:1 (February 2021) (co-author)
• “Nil Assessments Are Not a “Nothing””, Tax Litigation (Federated Press), XXIII(3):8-11 (2020) (co-author)