Value Meaning

"The Crown noted that subsection 248(32) refers to “value,” whereas subsection 248(31) refers to “fair market value.” Subsection 248(31) provides that the eligible amount of a gift or monetary contribution is the amount by which the fair market value of the property exceeds the amount of the advantage. The Crown argued that “value” in subsection 248(32) means the greater of fair market value and the perceived worth of the benefit from the donor’s perspective. However, the Crown did not identify any provision of the Act where “value,” without the words “fair market” immediately preceding it, meant the greater of fair market value and a perceived worth or was based on a subjective amount. Black’s Law Dictionary defines “value” as the significance, desirability, or utility of something, and also as the monetary worth or price of something—the amount of goods, services, or money that something commands in an exchange. The Oxford Dictionary includes a substantially similar definition: “The material or monetary worth of a thing; the amount of money, goods, etc., for which a thing can be exchanged or traded.” For the Act, which is a statute imposing a tax, the monetary definition of “value” is the relevant one. That definition involves an objective determination of the value of a property or service. In Canada (Attorney General) v. Nash, this Court confirmed the well-accepted definition of fair market value as the highest price an asset might reasonably be expected to bring if sold in the normal manner applicable to the asset, in the ordinary course of business, in a market composed of willing and informed arm’s-length buyers and sellers under no compulsion to buy or sell."