The appellant, having succeeded in its appeal against a GAAR reassessment, sought costs.
The appellant had made a settlement offer and obtained a more favourable judgment, entitling it to substantial indemnity costs for the post-offer period.
The parties disputed the costs for the pre-offer period.
The court exercised its discretion to award enhanced pre-offer costs rather than tariff costs, finding that limiting the appellant to tariff costs would undermine the policy goal of encouraging early settlement offers.
The court awarded lump sum costs of $870,595.12.