Judgments

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T-2224-75
Plan A Leasing Limited (Plaintiff)
v.
The Queen (Defendant)
Trial Division, Gibson J.—Toronto, March 24; Ottawa, April 8, 1976.
Income tax—Capital cost allowance—Whether plaintiff owned or leased building—'L" conveying land to "G. W." and building thereon to "159" Limited—''159" Limited leasing land from "G.W."—Plaintiff acquiring all rights to property by purchasing building and accepting assignment of lease of land—Plaintiff claiming ownership of building—Income Tax Regulations 1100(1)(a),(3)(b), 1102(5), Sch. B, class 3, Sch. H, class 13.
Plaintiff claimed capital cost allowance as owner of the building at 159 Bay St., Toronto. What occurred was that the original owner, L, split the ownership of the land from the building by conveying the land to the Great-West Company and the building to 159 Bay Street Limited. 159 Bay Street Limited simultaneously leased the land from Great-West. Plaintiff then acquired all rights to the property by purchasing the building and accepting an assignment of the lease of the land. By virtue of the original splitting of the land and building by L, plaintiff claimed to be owner of the building. Defendant claimed that in Ontario it is impossible to undertake separate conveyances-of the- land and-then-the-building_ther-eon_after-it_ has been built, and that what the grantee of the building received was only a leasehold interest. Alternatively, it was argued that if more rights were given to the grantee, they were subject to the terms of the lease (entered into collaterally with the deed to the building). One provision of the lease was a requirement that the grantee of the building convey it without compensation to the lessor of the lands on termination of the lease. As a result, the grantee's rights, it was argued, amounted to no more than a leasehold interest.
Held, allowing the appeal, plaintiff owned the building for the period in question, and can deduct capital cost allowance of 5% on a declining basis. In law, title to land and to a building thereon can be conveyed separately when the parties have specially contracted to do so. The usual rule of law that the building is part of the freehold can be abrogated by contract between the parties. They can completely sever the right of title and interest in the freehold in the building from that in the land, even though the building continues to be annexed to the land. The fact that the first subject deed of the freehold of the building did not include in it a conveyance of easements does not change the legal effect of the deed; a further transaction was entered into (the lease with Great-West) and it accom plished the same result as would have been had a conveyance of easements been included in the same deed as the conveyance of the freehold of the building. As to whether the documents in question carried out the parties' intent, in deeds and leases, the granting clause governs; any later clause purporting to qualify, abrogate or destroy rights created by the granting clause is
repugnant. Here, the granting clauses in each document were correct, as were the execution and delivery of said documents.
Davy v. Lewis (1860) 18 U.C.Q.B. 21 and Rudnikoff v. The Queen [ 1974] 2 F.C. 807, followed. Cohen v. M.N.R. [1968] 1 Ex.C.R. 110, applied.
INCOME tax appeal.
COUNSEL:
W. D. Goodman, Q.C., and J. M. Clow for
plaintiff.
J. S. Gill for defendant.
SOLICITORS:
Goodman & Carr, Toronto, for plaintiff.
Deputy Attorney General of Canada for defendant.
The following are the reasons for judgment rendered in English by
GIBSON J.: On this hearing, five separate income tax appeals were heard together on common evidence, namely: Plan A Leasing Lim ited v. The Queen (T-2224-75); Plan B Leasing Limited v. The Queen (T-2225-75); Plan C Leas ing Limited v. The Queen (T-2226-75); Calfonta Investments Limited v. The Queen (T-2227-75); and Strathearn Holdings Limited v. The Queen (T-2228-75).
(The appeals for the taxation years 1967 and 1968 for the plaintiff Plan A Leasing Limited and the plaintiff Strathearn and the appeals for the taxation years 1968 and 1969 for the plaintiff Plan B Leasing Limited and for the plaintiff Plan C Leasing Limited were not proceeded with because such appeals were from nil assessments in those respective years.)
The issue in this appeal is whether during the relevant taxation years the plaintiff "owned" the building called Commerce and Transportation Building, 159 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario or whether it "leased" it.
It is not disputed that the plaintiff leased the lands upon which the said building sits during the relevant taxation years.
For taxation purposes, different results obtain if the plaintiff "owned", the said building than if the plaintiff "leased" the said building as follows:
A. If on the resolution of this issue, it should be held that the plaintiff owned the said building, then the plaintiff is entitled to capital cost allow ance on a decreasing basis as a Class 3 asset as described in Schedule B of the Regulations at the rate of 5% per annum of the capital cost of the building in 1962.
B. If on the other hand, on the resolution of this issue, the plaintiff should be held to have a leasehold interest only in this building, then the plaintiff is entitled to claim a deduction from income for the building as a Class 13 asset under Schedule H at the rate of 2 1 / 2 % per annum on a straight line basis.
The difference in the result for income tax purposes for the plaintiff between the resolutions referred to in A and B above, is that under A, there is a certain tax deferral for 25 years.
Certain transactions took place in 1962 and it is the legal effect of them from the point of view of real estate law and its application to the Income Tax Act and Regulations that is the subject matter of the issue on this appeal.
These facts may be summarized as follows:
1. In February, 1962, Samuel Lunenfeld, the owner of the lands (the "Lands") and the building (the "Building") situated at the northwest corner of Bay and Front Streets, in the City of Toronto, accepted an offer to sell the Lands and Building to Joseph Rosenblum.
2. Joseph Rosenblum subsequently accepted an offer dated February 16, 1962, made by The Great-West Life Assurance Company which offer stated that it was for the purchase of the Lands only, excluding the Building. The offer provided that, contemporaneously with the closing of the transaction, a lease of the Lands would be granted by Great-West, as landlord, to Joseph Rosenblum, or his nominee, as lessee, for a term of 99 years.
3. By a deed dated April 16, 1962, Samuel Lunen- feld stated that he conveyed the Lands to Great-West.
4. A deed dated April 16, 1962, executed by Samuel Lunenfeld purported to convey the Build ing to 159 Bay Street Limited.
5. A lease dated April 16, 1962, was entered into between Great-West as landlord, and 159 Bay Street Limited, as lessee.
6. Under an agreement dated May 4, 1962, the plaintiff Plan A Leasing Limited purported to purchase the building from 159 Bay Street Lim ited and to acquire from it an assignment of the lease that the latter held from Great-West. Pursu
ant to the said agreement, a deed dated May 1962, purported to convey the Building to Plan A Leasing Limited and also an assignment of lease dated May 17, 1962, purported to assign the inter est of 159 Bay Street Limited in the lease to Plan A Leasing Limited.
In respect to the issue on this appeal, the plain tiff claims capital cost allowance (at the rate of 5% per annum on a decreasing balance) as owner of the building called Commerce and Transportation Building, 159 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario by reason of the said above-quoted transactions that took place in 1962.
Speaking generally, a person or a corporation who owns or leases a building is entitled to deduct from income such amounts for capital cost allow ance or depreciation as is permitted by the Regula tions made under the Income Tax Act.
For example, in the four situations listed hereunder, the applicable Regulation is cited and its application discussed:
1. An owner of a brick building is entitled to capital cost allowance at the rate of 5% on a decreasing balance by reason of Regulation 1100(1)(a)(iii) being a Class 3 property referred to in Schedule B of the Regulations.
1100. (1) Under paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 11 [20] of the Act, there is hereby allowed to a taxpayer, in computing his income from a business or property, as the case may be, deductions for each taxation year equal to
(a) such amounts as he may claim in respect of property of each of the following classes in Schedule B not exceeding in respect of property
(iii) of class 3, 5%,
CLASS 3
Property not included in any other class that is
(a) a building or other structure, including component parts such as electric wiring, plumbing, sprinkler systems, air-con ditioning equipment, heating equipment, lighting fixtures, elevators and escalators,
2. A person who has a leasehold interest in a building is entitled to depreciate the cost of it over the lifetime of the lease, plus one renewal period— with a maximum period in total of 40 years by reason of Regulation 1100(1) (b) being a Class 13 property referred to in Schedule H of the Regula tions. Regulation 1100(1)(b):
Leasehold Interest
(b) such amount, not exceeding the amount for the year calculated in accordance with Schedule H, as he may claim in respect of the capital cost to him of property of class 13 in Schedule B;
Schedule H.
Leasehold Interests.
1. For the purpose of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 1100, the amount that may be deducted in computing the income of a taxpayer for a taxation year in respect of the capital cost of property of class 13 in Schedule B is the lesser of
(a) the aggregate of each amount determined in accordance with section 2 of this Schedule that is a prorated portion of the part of the capital cost to him, incurred in a particular taxation year, of a particular leasehold interest; or
(b) the undepreciated capital cost to the taxpayer as of the end of the taxation year (before making any deduction under section 1100) of property of the class.
2. Subject to section 3 of this Schedule, the prorated portion for the year of the part of the capital cost, incurred in a particular taxation year, of a particular leasehold interest is the lesser of
(a) one-fifth of that part of the capital cost; or
(b) the amount determined by dividing that part of the capital cost by the number of 12-month periods (not exceed ing 40 such periods) falling within the period commencing with the beginning of the particular taxation year in which the capital cost was incurred and ending with the day the lease is to terminate.
3. For the purpose of determining, under section 2 of this Schedule, the prorated portion for the year of the part of the capital cost, incurred in a particular taxation year, of a particu lar leasehold interest, the following rules apply:
(a) where an item of the capital cost of a leasehold interest was incurred before the taxation year in which the interest was acquired, it shall be deemed to have been incurred in the taxation year in which the interest was acquired;
(b) where, under a lease, a tenant has a right to renew the lease for an additional term, or for more than one additional term, after the term that includes the end of the particular taxation year in which the capital cost was incurred, the lease shall be deemed to terminate on the day on which the term next succeeding the term in which the capital cost was incurred is to terminate;
(c) the prorated portion for the year of the part of the capital cost, incurred in a particular taxation year, of a particular- leasehold interest shall not exceed the amount, if any, remaining after deducting from that part of the capital cost the aggregate of the amounts claimed and deductible in previous years in respect thereof;
(d) where, at the end of a taxation year, the aggregate of
(i) the amounts claimed and deductible in previous taxa tion years in respect of a particular leasehold interest, and
(ii) the proceeds of disposition, if any, of part or all of that interest
equals or exceeds the capital cost as of that time of the interest, the prorated portion of any part of that capital cost shall, for all subsequent years, be deemed to be nil; and
(e) where, at the end of a taxation year, the undepreciated capital cost to the taxpayer of property of class 13 is nil, the prorated portion of any part of the capital cost as of that time shall, for all subsequent years, be deemed to be nil.
(Schedule H added by P.C. 1964-1857, December 4, 1964, Canada Gazette Part II, December 23, 1964).
3. A tenant who erects a building on leased land and has a leasehold interest in the building, is entitled to treat the building as if he owned it and deduct capital cost allowance as in situation 1 above by reason of Regulation 1102(5). Regula tion 1102(5):
Buildings on Leased Property
(5) Where the taxpayer has a leasehold interest in a prop erty, a reference in Schedule B to a property that is a building or other structure shall be deemed to include a reference to that part of the leasehold interest acquired by reason of the fact that the taxpayer has
(a) erected a building or structure on leased land,
(b) made an alteration to a leased building or structure, or
(c) made alterations to a leased property which substantially change the nature of the property,
unless the property is included in class 23 in Schedule B.
4. A tenant who erects a building on leasehold land has a leasehold interest in the building if he
subsequently assigns his leasehold rights to an assignee, then the assignee is entitled to a deduc tion from income for depreciation only at the rate of 2 1 / 2 % on a straight line basis, that is, on the same basis as in situation 2 above.
(This Regulation was changed in January, 1976 so that the situation now is the same as in situation 3 above.)
The documentation with respect to the transac tions in 1962 purport to cause the following legal results to obtain:
A. Re lands—Great-West Life Assurance Com pany owns the lands upon which the subject building sits.
The plaintiff leases (by way of assignment of lease) the said lands from Great-West Life Assurance Company.
B. Re building—the plaintiff owns the building, 159 Bay Street, Toronto, called Commerce and Transportation Building.
The deeds and leases which purport to accom plish the above results are as follows:
A. Re land—Deed of land (Exhibit A-3) dated April 16, 1962 between Samuel Lunenfeld of Montreux, Switzerland as grantor and The Great- West Life Assurance Company as grantee. The granting clause reads: "he the said grantor DOTH GRANT unto the said grantee in fee simple".
B. Re building—(1) Deed of building (Exhibit A-4) dated April 16, 1962 between Samuel Lunen- feld of Montreux, Switzerland as grantor and 159 Bay Street Limited as grantee. The granting clause reads: "he, the said Grantor, DOTH GRANT unto the said Grantee ALL those the buildings, improvements, appurtenances thereto and fixtures therein or thereon, situate upon (but not includ ing) the lands more particularly described in Schedule 'A' hereto (hereinafter referred to as 'the said buildings')."
(2) Deed of building (Exhibit A-7) dated May
, 1962 between 159 Bay Street Limited the grantor and Plan "A" Leasing Limited the gran- tee. The granting clause reads: "the said Grantor DOTH GRANT unto the said Grantee ALL those the buildings, improvements, appurtenances thereto and fixtures therein or thereon, situate upon (but
not including) the lands more particularly described in Schedule 'A' hereto (hereinafter referred to as 'the said buildings')."
C. Re lease—Lease of lands only (Exhibit A-5) dated April 16, 1962 between The Great-West Life Assurance Company as lessor and 159 Bay Street Limited as lessee. The granting clause reads: "WITNESSETH, that in consideration of the rents, covenants and agreements hereinafter reserved and contained on the part of the Tenant to be paid, observed and performed the Landlord has demised and leased and by these presents does hereby demise and lease unto the Tenant All and Singular the lands and premises situate, lying and being in the City of Toronto, in the County of York, more particularly described in Schedule 'A' hereto annexed, which lands exclusive of any buildings or other improvements are hereinafter referred to as the `demised premises'."
D. Assignment of lease of lands only—Assign- ment (Exhibit A-8) dated May 17, 1962, between 159 Bay Street Limited as assignor and Plan A Leasing Limited as assignee. The granting clause in said assignment reads: "NOW THIS INDENTURE WITNESSETH that in consideration of other valu able consideration and the sum of TWO ($2.00)— Dollars now paid by the Assignee to the Assignor (the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged) the Assignor doth hereby grant and assign unto the Assignee all that certain parcel of land situate in the City of Toronto, in the County of York, as more particularly described in Schedule 'A' hereto annexed; together with the residue unexpired of the term of years in the said lease mentioned, and the said lease and all benefit and advantage to be derived therefrom."
Recapitulating and referring to the exhibit evi dence, the relevant contracts of deed, lease and assignment of lease are:
The plaintiff's contracts of deed and lease:
A. Exhibit A-1, A-3, A-4 and A-5 indicate that Lunenfeld split the ownership of the land from that of the building by:
(i) conveying the ownership of the land to Great-West Life Assurance Company (see Exhibit A-3); and
(ii) by conveying the ownership of the building to 159 Bay Street Limited (Exhibit A-4).
B. 159 Bay Street Limited at the same time as it became owner of the building (Exhibit A-4) leased the lands from Great-West Life Assurance Com pany (Exhibit A-5).
C. Then the plaintiff, Plan A Leasing Limited acquired all the rights of 159 Bay Street Limited by:
(i) purchasing the building (Exhibit A-7), and
(ii) by accepting an assignment of the lease of the lands (Exhibit A-8).
It is by virtue of what happened at A above that the plaintiff claims to be owner of the building and entitled to claim for income tax purposes capital cost allowance pursuant to the Regulations made under the Income Tax Act of the building as owner.
The determination of the issue on this appeal involves real estate law questions by virtue of what took place in 1962 as above recited.
Counsel for the defendant contends that in law in the Province of Ontario what was alleged to have been successfully done here is impossible, namely, to sign, seal and deliver separate convey ances of the lands and the building which sits on those lands after (as was the case here) the build ing has been built on such lands. Counsel says that what the grantee in the conveyance of the building received in this case was only a leasehold interest in the building and not the freehold title of owner ship. He says that if a building is conveyed sepa rate and apart from the land (as was done here), that such conveyance gives to the grantee title to the building as a fixture together with the right to remove the building from the site or dismantle it within a reasonable time; and if on the contrary, there is included, even in a collateral and contem poraneous conveyance as e.g. a lease, a right to keep the building on the lands on which it sits, such is dependent solely on such lease of the lands. He then concludes as a consequence, what the plaintiff received by such a conveyance of the building, was only a leasehold interest in the building.
Alternatively, counsel for the defendant submit ted that if the conveyance of the building, (as in this case, separate from the lands) gave more rights to the grantee than above mentioned, then the rights received by the grantee were subject to the terms of the subject lease (entered into collat- erally with the deed of the building) among whose provisions is a clause requiring the grantee of the building to convey without compensation the building to the lessor of the lands upon which it sits on the termination of the land lease. Counsel submits that, as a result, the rights obtained by the grantee by these transactions amount in law to no more than a leasehold interest in the building.
Counsel for the defendant cites as authorities for these submissions the following:
Stack v. Eaton'; Holland v. Hodgson 2 ; Hobson v. Gorringe 3 ; Haggert v. Town of Brampton 4 ; Reynolds v. Ashby & Son 5 ; Crossley Brothers Limited v. Lee 6 ; Seeley v. Caldwell'; Devine v. Callery 8 ; Scarth v. Ontario Power and Flat Co. 9 ; Davy v. Lewis'°; Agricultural Develop ment Board v. Ricard"; Liscombe Falls Gold Mining Co. v. Bishop 12 ; In re Morrison, Jones & Taylor Limited 13 ; Struthers v. Chamandy' 4 ; City of Vancouver v. Attorney General of Canada 15 ; Re Hornell 16 ; Cohen v. M.N.R.' 7 ; Reitman v. M.N.R. 18 ; Rudnikoff v. The Queen 19 ; La Banque D'Hochelaga v. The Waterous Engine Works Company 20 ; The Law of Real Property by Megarry and Wade, 3rd
' (1902) 4 O.L.R. 335.
2 (1872) L.R. 7 C.P. 328.
3 [1897] 1 Ch. 182.
4 (1897) 28 S.C.R. 174.
5 [1904] A.C. 466.
6 [1908] 1 K.B. 86.
7 (1908) 18 O.L.R. 472.
8 (1918) 38 D.L.R. 542.
9 (1894) 24 O.R. 446.
10 (1860) 18 U.C.Q.B. 21.
11 (1927) 32 O.W.N. 140.
12 (1905) 35 S.C.R. 539.
13 [1914] 1 Ch. 50.
14 (1918) 42 O.L.R. 508.
15 [1944] S.C.R. 23.
16 [1945] 1 D.L.R. 440.
17 [1968] 1 Ex.C.R. 110.
18 [1968] 1 Ex.C.R. 120.
19 [1974] 2 F.C. 807.
20 (1897) 27 S.C.R. 406.
edition, pages 68-83, 141, 556-57, and 715-23; The Law of Personal Property, 2nd edition by Brown pages 725-28.
Counsel for the plaintiff submitted that the transactions above referred to resulted (1) in the plaintiff Plan A Leasing Limited being the owner of the freehold in the subject building on the said subject lease of the lands upon which the building sits, but not the lands; (2) in Great-West Life Assurance Company being the owner of the free hold in the said lands, but not the building erected thereon; and (3) in the plaintiff Plan A Leasing Limited being the owner of the leasehold interest in the said lands by way of assignment of lease.
So much for the submission of counsel.
From a careful reading of Exhibits A-1 to A-14, it is obvious that the relevant parties at all ma terial times by contracts of deed, lease and assign ment of lease very carefully spelled out and execu ted their intention in entering into these said transactions.
In law, the title of the lands and the title to the building on such lands can be conveyed separately when parties have made a special contract to do so. When parties do so by proper conveyances, they may, as was said in Davy v. Lewis (supra) at page 30, define and make a law for themselves in respect to such lands and building. In other words, the usual rule of law that the building is part of the freehold can be abrogated by a contract of parties. They can completely sever the right title and interest in the freehold in the building from the right title and interest in the freehold of the lands on which the building sits, even though the building continues to be annexed to such lands.
This exception to the rule of common law has obtained since Lord Coke's time. (See Challis, The Law of Real Property, 3rd edition, page 54). And as is said in Megarry and Wade, The Law of Real Property, 3rd edition, at page 70:
An owner can, if he wishes, divide his land horizontally or in any other way. He can dispose of minerals under the surface, or the top floor of a building, so as to make them separate properties.
In this Court in Rudnikoff v. The Queen (supra) at page 809, Jackett C.J. said:
However, in my view, while the general rule, both in the common law provinces and in the Province of Quebec is that a substantial building becomes a part of the land and belongs to the owner of the land, this situation may be changed, by contract or otherwise, so that ownership of the building is separate from ownership of the land and the building would not be a part of the subject matter of the lease. Such a result would, however, follow only as a result of clear language and, in my view, in this case, the terms of the emphyteutic lease are not such as to produce such a result.
Also in this Court in Cohen v. M.N.R. 21 Noël A.C.J. said it was possible to modify the terms of an emphyteutic lease under the Quebec Civil Code. He said at pages 116 and 119 as follows:
An examination of the deed of lease and agreement between the Ecclesiastics of the Seminary of St-Sulpice of Montreal and The Transportation Building Company Limited as well as of the deed of sale to the appellants of the rights in the original lease and agreement and in the building constructed on the property reveals that some of the clauses of the deed of lease and agreement are standard emphyteutic clauses whereas others are not and are unusual.
I shall now consider only those clauses pertinent to the present case and which may be helpful in determining the nature of the rights the appellants purchased from The Trans portation Building Company Limited.
It therefore appears to me that whatever are the rights of an ordinary emphyteutic lessee in Quebec or whatever difficulties there may be in the common law provinces because ownership of the land carries with it whatever is built thereon, I cannot, on the documents as they stand herein, reach any other conclusion but that the appellants were the proprietors of the building erected on the land owned by the Seminary.
In addition, in this case, the fact that the first subject deed of the freehold of the building (Exhibit A-4) did not also in it include a convey ance of easements for such things as support, access etc., does not change the legal effect of the said deed. Another transaction was entered into in this case in 1962 to obtain such easements, namely, the lease with Great-West Life Assurance Company (Exhibit A-5). Such accomplished the same result as would have been accomplished by including a conveyance of such easements in the same deed as the conveyance of the freehold of the building. (Exhibit A-4).
21 [1968] 1 Ex.C.R. 110.
The only other question that arises is whether or not the subject documentation in law carried out the intention of the parties in this case.
In deeds and leases the granting clause governs. Any later clause which purports to qualify, abro gate or in any way destroy the rights created by the granting clause is to be rejected in law as repugnant and the granting clause prevails. (See Ouston v. Williams 22 ; Forbes v. Git 23 ; Armour on Real Property, 2nd edition 1916, page 350; Anger and Honsberger, Canadian Law of Real Property 1959 pages 16-17.)
A review of the deeds, leases and conveyances above referred to indicates that the granting clauses in all the relevant deeds, leases and assign ment were drafted correctly in law and these docu ments were correctly executed and delivered.
As a consequence, in law the plaintiff Plan A Leasing Limited is the owner of the freehold of the building, 159 Bay Street Limited, Toronto, known as Commercial and Transportation Building; and was during all the relevant taxation years. It is therefore entitled, during the relevant taxation years, to a deduction from income for capital cost allowance in respect to its cost of such building at the rate of 5% per annum on a decreasing basis.
The appeal is therefore allowed with costs, and the matter is directed to be referred back for re-assessment not inconsistent with these reasons.
22 (1857) 16 U.C.Q.B. 405 at 406.
23 (1922) 61 D.L.R. 353.
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