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.
The Tax Court had dismissed the taxpayer’s appeal on a preliminary motion because, in the Court’s view, only the Nova Scotia Supreme Court had jurisdiction to determine whether the taxpayer was a resident of Nova Scotia. The taxpayer, however, had claimed that the result of the appeal would affect her entitlement to the northern resident’s allowance, which in turn affected her liability under the Income Tax Act (Canada). The Federal Court of Appeal held that, assuming this was correct (and on a motion to strike, the Court is supposed to make that assumption), the Tax Court did have jurisdiction because the taxpayer’s liability under the federal Act was at issue.
