Garnet Matsuba, K.C.

Counsel

Edmonton

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Education & Qualifications

  • Alberta Bar (1985)
  • In-Depth Tax Course (Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, 1988)
  • LLB with distinction (Alberta, 1984)
  • B.Comm. with distinction (Alberta, 1981)

Services and Industries

Garnet focuses on developing tax-efficient business structures, Canadian and international tax planning, and devising corporate reorganizations.

  • Assisted Canadian private corporations in planning around the new “Tax on Split Income” rules and in structuring equity participation by employees without triggering immediate tax
  • Worked with many professionals to restructure their corporations to take advantage of current opportunities to reduce personal tax on distributions received
  • Acted for major international corporations in establishing offshore business organizations to capitalize upon favourable tax treaty provisions
  • Reorganized numerous privately held corporations in a tax-effective manner to monetize benefits provided by the Canadian tax system
  • Advised an Alberta pharmaceutical company on tax issues pertaining to the largest licensing deal in Canadian biotech history
  • Teamed with international advisers to design and implement a tax-effective acquisition of a successful Alberta engineering firm by a major U.S. consortium

Garnet practises broadly in the area of taxation which includes corporate tax planning, corporate reorganizations, tax-efficient business structuring, business succession planning, and estate planning and administration. Garnet’s clients range from small-to mid-size owner managed businesses to private and public multinational enterprises, spanning a wide variety of industry sectors.

His numerous academic achievements include winning the T. Eaton Company Gold Medal on earning his Bachelor of Commerce degree at the age of 18. He was selected as Young Canadian Achiever for Edmonton-Strathcona and named the Alberta representative to the Federal Advisory Committee for International Youth Year in 1985.

Garnet was appointed Queen’s (now King’s) Counsel for the Province of Alberta in 2020.

  • Former Treasurer, Law Alumni & Friends (Alberta)
  • Former Member, Audit & Finance Committee, Law Society of Alberta (Alberta)
  • Former Governor, Canadian Tax Foundation
  • Former Executive Member, Taxation Section, Canadian Bar Association (Northern Alberta)
  • Statistician and Media Relations Liaison, Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club
  • Co-presenter, “Jointly Held Assets and Beneficiary Designations,” Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (Edmonton, 2019)
  • Presenter, “Anatomy of a Trust,” Business and Tax Advisers (2013)
  • Presenter, “The Uses of Trusts in Tax and Estate Planning,” Business and Tax Advisers (2012)
  • Lecturer, “Taxation,” University of Alberta
  • Presentations to the Judges of the Court of Appeal of Alberta, Canadian Bar Association, the Canadian Tax Foundation, the Legal Education Society of Alberta (including the 2010 Lake Louise Refresher Course on Business Law), The Entrepreneurial CAs of Edmonton, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Alberta and the Estate Planning Council of Edmonton
  • Named a Leading Practitioner, Corporate Tax, Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory
  • Appointed Queen’s (now King’s) Counsel for Province of Alberta (2020)
  • Recognized as a Top Lawyer, Tax Law, Best Lawyers (2012-present)
  • Judges’ Bronze Medal, Law (1984)
  • T. Eaton Company Gold Medal (1981)