Envision a situation where a foreign corporation (“Forco”) buys all of the shares of a private Canadian corporation (“Canco”) for $10 million.

What happens if Canco generates profits, and Forco would like to use those profits to recover the $10 million cost of its investment in Canco?

Can Forco just take funds from Canco up to the amount of that cost without paying any Canadian withholding tax? It should be able to, since it is just trying to recover its cost, right?

Unfortunately, that is not the case. Any dividends that Canco pays to Forco will be subject to Read More