Ray Adlington has earned all of his grey hair practicing tax law since 1997. He would really appreciate if Finance (Canada), the Canadian federal judiciary, and the Canada Revenue Agency would stop complicating the rules of the tax game. Ray’s practice of tax law focuses on corporate tax, personal tax, commodity tax, and a sprinkle of tax dispute resolution on behalf of taxpayers because he likes to argue and needs a constructive outlet. Ray is a past four-year member of the joint Canadian Bar Association – CPA Canada Joint Committee on Taxation.

Having worked from Halifax for over 20 years prior to relocating to Ontario, Ray has acted for the most successful entrepreneurs and family-controlled businesses based in Atlantic Canada. Ray is the former Managing Partner and CEO of McInnes Cooper from 2013-2016. In 2017, Ray was elected as the national Vice-President of the Canadian Bar Association and then served a year as national President in 2018-19. Through the Canadian Bar Association, Ray is a frequent speaker on mental health in the legal profession, inclusivity and diversity in the legal profession, and access to justice for all Canadians.

Now back to being a lawyer on a four-day-per-week basis, Ray acts as counsel to private companies and their owners on a broad range of tax issues, including enterprise structuring, capital investment planning and structuring ownership of strategic assets, sale planning, estate and succession planning. This includes obtaining advance rulings from the Canada Revenue Agency or referring matters for resolution by competent authority under one of Canada’s tax treaties. Finally, Ray knows where the capital dividend account is hidden and how to maximize the number of jellybeans in the jar.