J. Scott Bodie

The appellant appealed the Minister's disallowance of spousal support deductions for the 2020 and 2021 taxation years.

The appellant argued that he and his former spouse had agreed to reduce child support to zero, making his payments deductible as spousal support.

The Tax Court of Canada found no evidence of a court order or agreement amending the original support order.

Under paragraph 60(b) of the Income Tax Act, support payments are deemed to be child support first, and since the amounts paid did not exceed the child support payable under the order, no deduction was permitted.

The appeals were dismissed.

The appellant claimed moving expenses of $66,868 for the 2021 taxation year after moving to a new home to accommodate working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Minister reassessed to disallow the claim.

The Tax Court of Canada dismissed the appeal, finding that the relocation did not occur primarily to enable the appellant to be employed at the new location, as required by the definition of 'eligible relocation' in the Income Tax Act, but rather for personal reasons.

The respondent Minister brought motions under sections 86 and 99 of the Tax Court of Canada Rules (General Procedure) seeking to examine the appellants' father as a non-party and to compel a brokerage firm to produce account records.

The Minister alleged the appellants received unreported shareholder benefits from offshore trading accounts.

The Court granted the motions, finding the father had relevant information not obtainable elsewhere and that the brokerage records were likely relevant to tracing the funds.