People

Sarah S. Chiu

Contact Info

Partner

+1 (403) 260-5639

schiu@felesky.com

Location

Calgary, Alberta

Sarah practices in all areas of tax law. She holds both her Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering degrees from the University of Calgary. Today, she maintains her ties with the school as a sessional instructor.

Prior to entering the legal profession, Sarah worked at a major oil and gas company in Calgary. She served as a law clerk to the Honourable Justices of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench and articled with a national firm prior to joining Felesky Flynn in 2010.

As partner in Calgary, she rallies her team of passionate professionals, leveraging everyone’s abilities to deliver progressive advice. From managing large corporate restructures to smart tax planning for high net-worth families, Sarah is determined to shape strong results.

Outside of work, Sarah lends her expertise to the tax profession as a member of the CBA/CPA Joint Committee, as a Governor of the Canadian Tax Foundation and as a member of the Executive Committee of the International Fiscal Association.

Sarah is ranked as a leading lawyer by Canadian Lexpert® in Corporate Tax and Finance and M&A and by the Lexpert/ALM 500. Sarah was also named as a Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyer for 2024.

2024 LEXPERT-ranked Lawyer

Credentials

  • Called to the Alberta Bar, 2009
  • Clerked at the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench, 2008-2009
  • Bachelor of Laws (LL.B), University of Calgary, 2008
  • Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering (with distinction), University of Calgary, 2005
  • Awarded the APEGGA Education Foundation Gold Medal in Engineering (Civil)

Memberships & Affiliations

  • Member, Joint Committee on Taxation of the Canadian Bar Association and the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada
  • Sessional Instructor, International Tax Law,  University of Calgary, Faculty of Law
  • Member, Board of Governors, Canadian Tax Foundation
  • Member, Executive Committee, International Fiscal Association (Canada)
  • Past Chair and Co-Chair of the Board Alumni Committee, Making Changes Association
  • Member, Canadian Tax Foundation
  • Member, Canadian Petroleum Tax Society
  • Member, Law Society of Alberta
  • Member, Canadian Bar Association
  • Member, Calgary Bar Association
Publications and Presentations
  • Co-Presented, “Mandatory Disclosure Rules: Commercial Considerations”, Tax Executives Institute, October 2023
  • Co-Presented, “Current International Tax Topics”, Canadian Petroleum Tax Society, 2023 Annual Conference, June 2023
  • Co-Presented, “Recent Trends and Select Issues in International Transactions”, Tax Executives Institute, 2023 Annual Conference, May 2023
  • Co-Chair, 2023 International Fiscal Association Canada International Tax Conference, May 2023
  • Co-Presented, “EIFEL, Stock Buybacks and Other New and Proposed Tax Developments”, FF Tax Series, March 2023
  • Sessional Instructor, International Tax Law, University of Calgary, Faculty of Law, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023
  • Co-Presented, “Hybrid Mismatch Proposals and Recent Tax Cases of Interest”, FF Tax Series, November 2022
  • Co-Presented, “Recent Legislative Proposals: A Discussion”, Canadian Petroleum Tax Society Virtual Webinar, March 2022
  • Co-Presented, “Foreign Transactions, Mergers, Wind-ups, Liquidations: How Should they be Interpreted for Purposes of the ITA?”, Canadian Tax Foundation Seventy-Third Annual Tax Conference, November 2021
  • Authored and Presented, “Introduction to Tax Treaties”, Canadian Tax Foundation Young Practitioner Focus Conference, September 2021
  • Co-Presented, “Interest Deductibility Proposed Limitations in Budget 2021”, Canadian Petroleum Tax Society, 2021 Annual Conference, June 2021
  • Co-Authored, “Group Approach and Separate Entity Approach in Domestic and International Tax Law”, International Fiscal Association, 2021/22 Berlin Congress
  • Co-Presented, “Common Tax Issues in Planning the Transaction Structure”, FF Tax Series, March 2021
  • Co-Presented, “Preliminary Tax Structuring Advice and Tax Due Diligence”, FF Tax Series, February 2021
  • Presented, “Transferring Resource Properties with Distressed Value”, FF Tax Series, July 2020
  • Co-Presented, “Planning with Partnerships: Select Issues”, CPTS Fall Lecture Series, October 2019
  • Co-presented “Successor Rules and Other Considerations for Purchasers and Vendors”, Canadian Petroleum Tax Society, 2018 Annual Conference, June 2018
  • Lecturer, “Introduction to Canadian Corporate International Tax”, Chartered Professional Accountants, December 2016
  • Authored and presented “Targeting the Wealthy – Good Tax Policy or Good Politics”, Canadian Tax Foundation Sixty-Seventh Annual Tax Conference, November 2015
  • Co-authored “The Conditions for – and Scope of – Subsection 152(4.3) Consequential Reassessments,” XIX Tax Litigation (Federated Press), 2015
  • Lecturer, Chartered Professional Accountants, “Income Splitting”, February 2015
  • Lecturer, Chartered Professional Accountants, “Tax Issues for Private Corporate Groups”, February 2015

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