Preface

• Author: Vern Krishna
• Pages: 19-21

PREFACE

Income

tax law

tends

to

strike terror

in the

hearts

of

most students

and

legal practitioners.

Law

students, typically anxious even during periods

of

tranquillity, tend

to

fret

about

tax

examinations long

before

they

are

due to be

written.

Legal

practitioners similarly

try to

steer clear

(as if

they can)

of tax

problems

that arise

in

commercial,

business,

and

family

transactions. Some students

say

that income

tax law is the

ultimate

form

of

capital punishment.

Yet

others, such

as

Martin

D.

Ginsberg, have

observed: "Basic tax,

as

everyone knows,

is the

only genuinely

funny

subject

in law

school."

Both

of

these views have merit.

To

be

sure, income

tax law is

complex

and

intimidating.

First,

the

size

of the

Income

Tax Act

(and Regulations)

at

nearly 2000 printed

pages

is in

itself enough

to

cause anyone anxiety.

Add to

that

the

rate

at

which

it

grows

and

changes annually

and the

volume

of

case

law

that

emerges each week.

The

cumulative

effect

of the

statutory amendments

and the

volume

of

judicial

decisions

is

incremental

and

intimidating

even

to tax

practitioners. Then again,

the

income

tax

statute

is not a

model

of

legislative

drafting.

The

definition

of a

"short-term preferred

share,"

for

example, extends

to

more than

two

printed pages

(four

col-

umns)

and is all

contained

in one

sentence!

It is not

easy

to

read,

and it

is

even more

difficult

to

understand.

There

are

various reasons

why tax law is

necessarily more complex

than most other areas

of

law.

It is a

multidimensional statute that,

in

addi-

tion

to

raising revenues, deals with complex social, economic,

and

inter-

national problems.

It

has,

and is

intended

to

have,

an

effect

on

most eco-

nomic

decisions,

at an

individual

and

institutional

level,

in

respect

of

domestic

and

international transactions. There

is

probably

no

other statute

that plays

as

significant

a

role

in

Canadian economic, social,

and

political

life.

Thus,

tax law is

intertwined with

our

daily lives even

as we try to