Jason C. Rosen

The Minister reassessed the appellant for his 2008 to 2011 taxation years beyond the normal reassessment period, adding alleged unreported shareholder benefits and imposing gross negligence and foreign reporting penalties.

The Tax Court of Canada allowed the appeals and vacated the reassessments.

The Court found that the Minister failed to prove the alleged misrepresentations and that the appellant had exercised reasonable care in relying on professional accountants to file his returns.

The Court also vacated the penalties, finding no gross negligence and that the appellant had established a due diligence defence regarding his foreign reporting obligations.

The appellant appealed the Minister's denial of a deduction for spousal support payments made in the 2018 taxation year.

The Minister argued the payments were not made pursuant to a written agreement because the 2011 separation agreement expired in 2014.

The Tax Court of Canada allowed the appeal, finding that the parties' conduct demonstrated they continued to consider themselves bound by the 2011 written agreement, satisfying the statutory requirement.

The applicants applied for an extension of time to file a notice of objection to a GST/HST reassessment that denied a new residential rental property rebate.

Shortly after the reassessment, the applicants had sent a letter to the CRA requesting a reassessment and providing documents.

The Minister argued this was not a valid notice of objection.

The Tax Court held that the letter constituted a valid notice of objection as it clearly communicated opposition to the reassessment.

Consequently, the application for an extension of time was dismissed as unnecessary, and the applicants were permitted to proceed with their appeal.