Christophe Tassé-Breault

The appellant appealed an assessment under section 160 of the Income Tax Act holding him jointly and severally liable for the tax debt of a trust.

The trust had emigrated to Barbados, triggering a deemed year end and disposition of property under subsection 128.1(4).

The trust subsequently distributed capital to the appellant.

The Tax Court of Canada held that subsection 128.1(4) applied to create a deemed year end, taking precedence over subsection 94(1).

Furthermore, the Court found that the appellant gave no consideration for the capital distributions, rejecting the argument that subsection 107(2) deemed consideration to have been paid.

The appeal was dismissed.

The applicant filed a motion under Rule 172 of the Tax Court of Canada Rules (General Procedure) to set aside a 2018 judgment that had dismissed its appeal for delay under Rule 64.

The applicant argued that newly discovered documents obtained through an access to information request showed the Canada Revenue Agency had evidence supporting the applicant's tax position, alleging fraud.

The Tax Court dismissed the motion, finding that the applicant's grounds related only to the merits of the underlying tax appeal, not to the circumstances of the delay that led to the 2018 dismissal.

The Court concluded there was no evidence of fraud or newly discovered facts material to the Rule 64 judgment.