In general, the CRA cannot collect a debt under the Income Tax Act (Canada) where the tax debtor has objected to, or appealed from, the reassessment underlying the debt (section 225.1). In Canada (National Revenue) v Zhao, 2022 FC 1108,…
Acknowledgement of a debt
The 10-year limitation period during which the CRA can collect a debt under the Income Tax Act (Canada) is re-started if the debtor “makes a written acknowledgement” of it. The CRA has stated that merely filing an objection or an…
Spousal constructive trust precedes CRA lien?
From David Nathanson, “Tax Liens and Constructive Trusts” 26:8 Canadian Tax Highlights (Aug 2018): Thus, if a constructive trust is recognized, for income tax purposes the legal owner of the property in dispute is generally regarded by the CRA as…
Section 160 and shareholder benefits
Can the Minister assess a taxpayer under section 160 in respect of an amount already included in the taxpayer’s income under subsection 15(1)? From Justice Bocock, in Parihar v R, 2015 TCC 52 at ¶45: shareholder who has been…
Collections scam
I have heard recently about a number of taxpayers who received voicemail messages purporting to be from the CRA. The caller left a message threatening the seizure of assets or the immediate imposition of criminal or severe civil sanctions if…
Collections While a Reassessment is Under Objection
Can the CRA force a taxpayer to provide information about net worth and the location and identity of assets for the purposes of assessing the “credit risk” of a debt owing pursuant to an assessment when that assessment is under…
Point in time due diligence
A director of a corporation that fails to remit source deductions might be duly diligent to a point in time, and therefore not liable for the failure to that time, but not diligent after that time, and therefore liable for…
Making it easier to collect
Canada v. Barrett, 2012 FCA 33, is an interesting companion to Madison v R, 2012 FCA 80 (discussed here). The upshot of Barrett is that the CRA need not undertake reasonable collection efforts against a corporation before assessing one of…
Savoy Now Somewhat Shabby
I wrote here about Savoy v R, 2011 TCC 35. The Federal Court of Appeal recently concluded that Savoy was wrongly decided on the question of what the Minister must do to satisfy the requirements of subsection 227.1(2) where a…
Antle and Garron
The Federal Court of Appeal has released its reasons for dismissing the appeal of the taxpayer in Antle. See Antle v. The Queen, 2010 FCA 280. The reasons are also now available online in St. Michael Trust Corp. v. The…