Jessica Fiore

The moving party, a newly established university, brought a motion for summary judgment in its appeal seeking a rebate of sales tax paid on construction.

The Minister of Finance had denied the rebate on the basis that the moving party was a 'university' under the relevant regulation, which excluded universities receiving provincial financial assistance.

The court found that during the rebate period, the moving party's authority to grant degrees came from Ministerial consent rather than an Act of the Assembly.

Therefore, it did not meet the strict statutory definition of a 'university' and was entitled to the rebate.

The appellant corporation appealed a decision of the Ministry of Revenue refusing to cancel deferred land transfer tax under s. 3(11) of the Land Transfer Tax Act.

The Ministry argued that registration of a development agreement constituted a conveyance or instrument evidencing the disposition of a beneficial interest in land, thereby triggering the tax.

The court held that the registered development agreement merely referenced the appellant as owner and did not identify the specific transfer of beneficial interest from the affiliated corporation.

As a result, it did not constitute an instrument evidencing the disposition under the statute.

The appeal was allowed and the Minister was directed to vacate the disallowance and return the funds.

A charitable foundation appealed a decision of the Minister of Revenue denying a refund of retail sales tax paid on prepared food products served at fundraising events where attendees paid a single ticket price.

The dispute concerned whether food provided at such events was supplied “without specific charge” under s. 12 of Regulation 1012 made under the Retail Sales Tax Act.

The court applied modern principles of statutory interpretation and concluded that the phrase requires a distinct charge for the food itself, not merely that food costs be embedded within a bundled event price.

Because the ticket price for the events did not itemize or separately allocate a charge for the prepared food products, the food was provided “without specific charge.” The foundation was therefore entitled to the exemption and the requested refund.