In Belchetz v Canada (National Revenue), 2020 FCA 225, the court considered whether the Minister had properly exercised her discretion to allow relief for 15 of the 30 (!) years for which interest had been outstanding. The issue before the court was whether the CRA had been right to deny relief for the time period from the filing-due date for the years in question (1985 to 1988) and 1990 when the CRA, after having refused to assess the returns filed for those years, finally issued initial notices of assessment. (The CRA had refused to assess until it had completed an audit of a tax shelter in which the taxpayers had participated.) The court held that the Minister’s exercise of discretion had been reasonable regardless of whether it was considered under the Dunsmuir v. New Brunswick, 2008 SCC 9, [2008] 1 S.C.R. 190, or Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65, 441 D.L.R. (4th) 1, standard.
