Priya Bains

The appellant brought a motion to hold his tax appeal in abeyance until the Minister of National Revenue confirmed all reassessments related to the Global Learning Gifting Initiative tax shelter.

The Tax Court of Canada dismissed the motion, finding it lacked jurisdiction to order the Minister to confirm the reassessments or to address the Minister's conduct during the audit or objection stages.

The appellant orthodontist appealed the Minister's disallowance of input tax credits (ITCs) for the supply of orthodontic appliances.

The Minister argued the patient invoices did not separate the consideration for zero-rated appliances from exempt orthodontic services.

The Tax Court allowed the appeal, finding that the Excise Tax Act unconditionally zero-rates orthodontic appliances and that the appellant's financial agreements, which apportioned 35% of the fee to appliances, met the documentary requirements for claiming ITCs.

The appellant participated in a charitable donation tax shelter and appealed the Minister's reassessment denying his claimed credits.

He brought a motion seeking over $2.2 million in interim costs to fund his litigation, or alternatively, an order holding his appeal in abeyance until the Minister confirmed the objections of approximately 17,000 other taxpayers involved in the same scheme.

The Tax Court dismissed the motion, finding that the appeal involved personal financial issues rather than matters of public importance, thus failing the Okanagan test for interim costs.

The Court also declined to hold the appeal in abeyance, noting the appellant had chosen not to be bound by a previous lead case that had already dismissed appeals related to the same tax shelter.

The Minister of National Revenue brought an application under section 174 of the Income Tax Act to determine a common question regarding a tax shelter, naming several taxpayers.

The Minister subsequently withdrew the application.

The named taxpayers sought costs.

The Court held that costs for the application should be determined and awarded immediately, rather than waiting for the conclusion of the taxpayers' individual appeals, because the application was a separate proceeding.

The Court awarded varying amounts of costs to the taxpayers based on their individual circumstances and representation.

The respondent brought a motion seeking an order that the self-represented appellant pay security for costs.

The appellant, a non-resident, had appealed the denial of donation tax credits related to the Global Learning Gifting Initiative.

The court found that the respondent had a high likelihood of success based on previous lead cases, and that the respondent's cost estimate was reasonable.

The motion was granted, and the appellant was ordered to pay $19,375 into court in installments.