Court overturns denial of SGI tax credits

The Federal Court of Appeal has overturned a ruling against Silicon Graphics Ltd (SGI) that denied the firm federal tax credits for R&D for two years in the early 1990s. In the decision, the judge ruled that SGI (then known as Alias Research Inc) was a “Canadian Controlled Private Corporation within the meaning of subsection 125(7) of the Income Tax Act”, even though the majority of its shares were US owned and it was listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. SGI applied for the tax credits under the Scientific Research and Experimental Development tax incentive program. The ruling — released June 17 — overturns a March/01 decision by the Tax Court of Canada and refers the case back to Minister of National Revenue for reassessment. A copy of the ruling can be found at: http://decisions.fct-cf.gc.ca/fct/2002/2002fca260.html....