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Burden Proof
Burden Proof (Fuscalite · A. Burden of Proof) — "Mr. Deyab’s argument that the Tax Court Judge inappropriately shifted the burden of proof to Mr. Deyab, in rel…
Ideas in this flowchart
- Mr. Deyab argues that the Tax Court Judge inappropriately shifted the burden of proof regarding the reassessments of the statute-barred years.
- The argument arises from the sequence in which the Tax Court Judge considered the issues.
- The appeal involved three principal issues.
- Whether Mr. Deyab received and failed to report shareholder benefits from M.D. Consulting 2005 Inc. during 2007 through 2011.
- Whether Mr. Deyab was liable for gross negligence penalties under subsection 163(2) of the Act.
- Whether the Minister could reassess the 2007 through 2010 taxation years beyond the normal reassessment period under subsection 152(4) of the Act.
- The statute-barred years were 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010.
- Because there was no allegation of fraud, the Minister had to establish the requirements for reassessing the statute-barred years.
- The Minister had to prove that Mr. Deyab made a misrepresentation.
- The Minister also had to prove that the misrepresentation resulted from neglect, carelessness, or wilful default.
- These burden-of-proof requirements are supported by Estate of Stanley Vine v. The Queen, 2015 FCA 125, at paragraph 24.
- The 2011 reassessment was issued within the normal reassessment period, so the Minister did not have to establish a misrepresentation to reassess that year.
- The Tax Court Judge considered the shareholder-benefit issue first and addressed the other two issues collectively afterward.
- Although the Judge should have recognized the Minister's burden for four of the five years, this did not affect the outcome concerning the reassessment of the statute-barred years.