Gaston Jorré

The appellant appealed reassessments of her 2010 and 2011 taxation years, in which the Minister disallowed substantial business expenses and assessed gross negligence penalties.

The Tax Court of Canada found the appellant's evidence lacking in credibility, noting claims for non-existent wages, altered receipts, and personal meals.

The court upheld the disallowance of the expenses, including home office and meal claims, as the appellant failed to demonstrate they were valid business expenditures.

The gross negligence penalties were also upheld, as the court inferred the appellant was wilfully blind or knowingly made false statements regarding her inflated expense claims.

The appeal was dismissed.

The appellants claimed business losses from a barbecue and catering venture for the 2008 to 2014 taxation years.

The Minister denied the losses, arguing there was no source of income, reassessed statute-barred years, and imposed gross negligence penalties.

The Tax Court found that the appellants' activities were initially a personal hobby and skill development, but evolved into a business by 2012.

The court held the Minister could not reopen the statute-barred 2008-2011 years as there was no misrepresentation, and vacated all gross negligence penalties.

For 2012-2014, the court allowed the business losses but reduced the claimed expenses as they were unreasonably high.