Peritos

"At the hearing before the Tax Court of Canada, the appellant’s expert witness, Benoît Egan, a chartered appraiser, indicated that the price paid by J.C. Fibers was fair and reasonable as J.C. Fibers was a special purchaser. His report, which was not challenged in this respect, indicated that there were few alternative sites for J.C. Fibers and that it would have cost more than the price paid to its shareholder to locate elsewhere. Mr. Egan conceded, however, that the market value of the property for a typical purchaser was $1,000,000.\n\nThe respondent’s expert witness, Gaston Laberge, put the fair market value of the property at $1,000,000, using the three recognized appraisal methods, namely: the cost method, the parity method and the income method. However, he did not try to determine whether the property might have had a higher value for J.C. Fibers in view of the particular situation in which that corporation found itself.\n\nOn the basis of the opinions of the two expert witnesses, the Tax Court of Canada judge was satisfied that the market value of the property on February 2, 1996, was $1,000,000 (paragraph 14). However, he wondered whether it was possible “to add a premium to this market value to justify the fact that J.C. Fibers paid a price greater than the market value in the context of a genuine commercial transaction between non-arm’s length parties” (paragraph 15)."