Pooja Mihailovich Partner | Toronto

About Pooja

Pooja co-leads the Tax Controversy and Litigation group. She is a seasoned tax litigator with a proven track record in resolving complex tax disputes and litigation matters.

Over the course of her career, Pooja has worked on precedent-setting cases, representing some of Canada’s largest corporate taxpayers across various industries. She has appeared at all levels of court, including successful appeals before the Supreme Court of Canada.

Be it at the negotiating table or in the courtroom, Pooja brings strategic vision to every case that she handles. Her passion for the practice and unwavering commitment to client service have earned her recognition as a trusted advisor in the field.

Select Experience

Over the course of her career, Pooja has acted as counsel on several leading cases, including:

An appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada regarding the taxation of foreign accrual property income
An appeal to the Tax Court of Canada concerning the application of the general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) to transactions involving the addition of life insurance proceeds to the capital dividend account
An appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal engaging the application of the GAAR to transactions involving the sale of real estate assets
An appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal regarding a compliance order requiring the production of tax accrual working papers
An appeal considering whether lawyers' accounting records are excluded from the definition of "solicitor-client privilege" in the Income Tax Act, even if those records would otherwise be privileged at common law
An appeal to the Tax Court regarding the tax treatment of a stock option surrender payment
An appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal concerning the validity of ex parte orders requiring the respondent life insurance companies to disclose confidential client information
An appeal to the Tax Court addressing the application of the "successor rules" in the context of a two-tiered partnership structure
An appeal to the Supreme Court regarding the transfer price of the active ingredient in a branded pharmaceutical product
An appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal seeking an adjournment pending the enactment of retroactive legislation
An appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal addressing the tax implications of a dividend reinvestment program
An appeal to the Tax Court concerning the entitlement of a limited liability company to benefits under the Canada-U.S. Income Tax Treaty
An appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal relating to the tax treatment of a natural hedging transaction

Awards & Recognition

Chambers Canada Legal Guide 2025 (Band 3 – Tax: Litigation)
The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2025 (Most Frequently Recommended – Litigation: Corporate Tax; Repeatedly Recommended – Corporate Tax)
The Best Lawyers in Canada 2025 (Tax Law)
ITR World Tax 2025 (Highly Regarded and Women in Tax Leader – Tax Controversy)
Lexpert’s Leading 500 Cross-Border Lawyers: A Guide to Doing Business in Canada 2025 (Litigation – Corporate Tax)
Lexology Index Thought Leaders: Corporate Tax 2024 (Corporate Tax - Controversy)
Lexology Index: Canada 2024 (Recommended - Corporate Tax)
Lexology Index: Corporate Tax 2024 (Recommended - Corporate Tax – Controversy)
Best Lawyers: “Lawyer of the Year” 2023 (Tax Law, Toronto)
Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyers 2023 – Independently Rated Lawyers (As nominated by senior in-house counsel)
Benchmark Canada’s 40 & Under List 2019 (Dispute Resolution - Tax)

Professional Activities

Pooja is an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School. She has also taught tax litigation and corporate tax law courses at Queen’s University, McGill University and the University of Toronto.

Pooja is a member of the Canadian Tax Foundation, The Advocates’ Society, the Canadian Bar Association and the Ontario Bar Association. She has also volunteered at the Canadian Tax Foundation and served on The Advocates’ Society’s Tax Litigation Practice Group as well as the Tax Court Bench and Bar Committee.

In addition to her volunteer work, Pooja has co-edited and contributed to the leading text on tax disputes and litigation in Canada (Tax Disputes in Canada: The Path Forward, Canadian Tax Foundation). She is also a contributing editor of Tax Litigation (Federated Press) and the Toronto Law Journal.

Publications

Co-author : Canada Audit Proposal Would Bring Big Noncompliance Consequences
Tax Insights & Commentary, Bloomberg Tax, December 16, 2024.
Author : Policy Forum: GAAR Revisited—A Road Map for Continued Analytical Rigour
Canadian Tax Journal, Vol. 72, No. 3, 2024.
Co-author : Even the Dead Wouldn’t Be Spared From Canada’s Capital Gains Hike
Tax Insights & Commentary, Bloomberg Tax, May 8, 2024.
Author : Plan to Change Canada’s Tax Avoidance Rule Raises More Questions
Tax Insights & Commentary, Bloomberg Tax, May 1, 2023.
Co-author : Proportionality and the Train of Inquiry in Tax Court Discovery: A Search for the End of the Line
Canadian Tax Journal, Vol. 66, No. 4, December 13, 2018.
Author : Litigation as a Route to Resolution
2014 Conference Report, Canadian Tax Foundation, Vol. 30, No. 1, 2015.
Co-author : GAAR Revisited: From Instinctive Reaction to Intellectual Rigour
Canadian Tax Journal, Vol. 62, No. 2, July 19, 2014.
Author : Protecting Accountants’ Tax Advice: A Primer on Privilege
CPA Magazine, May 2014.
Author : The Possibilities and Perils of Tax Litigation
2013 Conference Report, Canadian Tax Foundation, Vol. 38, No. 1, 2014.
Author : Revisiting the Limits: the Powers of the Minister Post-Objection
Tax Litigation, Volume XVIII, No. 3, 2012.
Co-author : Special Report: Tax Litigation Demystified
Canadian Tax Journal, Vol. 59, No. 3, 2011.

Professional Appearances

Speaker : Tax Litigation: Proving Your Case
The Advocates’ Society, Toronto, Ontario, February 11, 2025.
Speaker : Tax Litigation: The Efficient Trial
The Advocates’ Society, Toronto, Ontario, January 16, 2025.
Speaker : Challenges and Opportunities in Navigating CRA Audits and Appeals
CLHIA Tax Officers Conference, September 17, 2024.
Speaker : Canadian GAAR Jurisprudence & Interplay with Principal Purpose Test (PPT)
IFA India UK Joint International Tax Conference, September 17, 2024.
Speaker : Amended GAAR: What You Need to Know!
2024 IFA Canada International Tax Conference, Montréal, Quebec, May 14, 2024.
Moderator : The Swinging Pendulum of Statutory Interpretation
Celebrating the Tax Court of Canada: 40 Years of Service to Canadians, Canadian Tax Foundation, Toronto, Ontario, October 5, 2023.
Speaker : Women in Tax Dispute Resolution
Women in IFA Network (WIN), October 6, 2022.