In a February post, I noted that the Tax Court does not have jurisdiction over an assessment that relates only to Ontario taxes. In Hiscock v. Canada, 2007 FCA 382, the Court held that the Tax Court did have jurisdiction to determine whether a taxpayer was a resident of Nova Scotia.
Lawyers!
Subsection 30(2) of the Tax Court of Canada Rules (General Procedure) provides that “where a party to a proceeding is not an individual, that party shall be represented by counsel except with leave of the Court and on any conditions that it may determine.”
Tax Court Jurisdiction
The Tax Court has said it before, and it will say it again: it has no jurisdiction to hear an appeal from a “nil assessment” (an assessment where no federal taxes are payable) or from an assessment that relates only to Ontario taxes. See Baluyot v. The Queen, 2007 TCC 682.
Anchor Pointe
The Supreme Court has dismissed with costs the taxpayer’s application for leave to appeal from the Federal Court of Appeal’s decision in The Queen v. Anchor Pointe Energy Ltd., 2007 FCA 188.
Anchor Pointe allowed
The Federal Court of Appeal, in The Queen v. Anchor Pointe Energy Ltd., 2007 FCA 188, has reversed Chief Justice Bowman’s decision in 2006 TCC 424. I discuss the latter decision here.
Redeemer Goes to Ottawa
The Supreme Court of Canada today granted Redeemer Foundation’s “application for leave to appeal with costs to the applicant in any event of the cause.” The plot thickens. For my comments on this case, search for “Redeemer” on this…
Case update
On February 1, I will be speaking to the CRA practitioner’s group at the Royal Botanical Gardens about “Tax Cases of Interest”. I have written here about all of the cases on which I will present. The following table lists the cases together with some notes on their current status:
Anchor Pointe
The CRA’s Appeals branch, according to P148 (“Resolving Your Dispute: Objection and Appeal Rights Under the Income Tax Act”), exists “to resolve disputes arising from decisions made under legislation administered by the [CRA] by conducting fair and impartial reviews.” In fact, Appeals sometimes ends up acting as if the objection process were a second chance to audit the taxpayer: sometimes officers of the branch appear to spend more time trying to repair deficiencies in the CRA’s case against the taxpayer than they do considering the taxpayer’s submissions. When this happens, is relief available to the taxpayer?
Suing the CRA
Two courts of appeal have recently considered attempts to litigate personal income tax disputes outside the Tax Court of Canada. Smith et al v. Canada (Attorney General) et al, 2006 BCCA 237, and The Queen v. Roitman, 2006 FCA 266,…
Fees, audits, objections and appeals
When can a taxpayer deduct fees paid to contest an assessment or reassessment? As is usual in tax matters, the answer is neither simple nor obvious.