How is corporate income treated in determining income for support purposes?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from Harfield v Wilson, 2021 BCSC 653 (CanLII):

The Court of Appeal explained the reason for considering corporate income, when it is available, in Namdarpour v. Vahman, 2019 BCCA 153: Where a person owns or controls a corporation, the income actually paid by the corporation may not represent the total income available to be paid. By underpaying him or herself, an owner could artificially reduce the income available to pay support unnecessarily or arbitrarily—i.e., reduce income by choice. A corporation could be used as a vehicle to accumulate savings, which would depress support payments. Section 18 allows the court to “lift the corporate veil” to ensure that money received as income by the payor spouse fairly reflects all the money available for payment of support … (para. 121)

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