What kinds of cases are you looking for?    < Previous Case Collections — holding off on collecting on incorrect GST/HST assessmentGST/HST and income tax — real estate agent built home for personal useGST/HST — advertising servicesGST — air travel commissionsGST/HST — assessment of real estate agent on sale of condo was statute-barredGST — builder built home for personal useGST — builder of new home was not who CRA thought it wasGST/HST — Cancelling interest on "wash transaction"GST — cleaning up years of failure to charge GST on management feesGST — community centre constructionGST/HST — convincing CRA that it was too late to assessGST — corporation providing health care servicesGST/HST — credit for net tax wrongly remittedGST — dental clinicGST — directors' liability (car dealership)GST — directors' liability (company dissolved)GST — director's liability (construction contractor)GST — director's liability (corporate lawyer)GST — directors' liability (person never agreed to be a director)GST — directors' liability (public company)GST — director's liability (restaurant owner)GST — directors' liability assessment — individual was never a directorGST — employee rebate more than 10 years backGST/HST — exported goodsGST/HST — fixing a failed voluntary disclosureGST — full input tax credits allowedGST — getting CRA to honour a retroactive registrationGST — golf club membershipsGST — home renovation was not substantial renovationGST — input tax credits allowed without documentationGST/HST — input tax credits for GST incurred before registrationGST/HST — input tax credits for joint venture investmentGST/HST — input tax credits for legal fees on selling company sharesGST — input tax credits justifiedGST/HST — input tax credits — “medical” company was not making exempt suppliesGST/HST — input tax credits on bulk purchases of iPhonesGST/HST — input tax credits on inputs to exempt suppliesGST/HST — input tax credits on purchase of old home for new projectGST — input tax credits on land held for developmentGST/HST — input tax credits to charity for cost of landGST/HST — input tax credits where CRA had cancelled supplier's GST registrationGST/HST — input tax credits where invoices addressed to different company in groupGST — interest reduced to reflect offsetting rebateGST/HST — ITCs for joint venturerGST — liability of charitable institution for unremitted GSTGST/HST — litigation over real estate purchaseGST/HST — mail processing company ruinous assessment avertedGST — medical devicesGST — miscellaneous adjustmentsGST/HST — new housing rebateGST/HST — net tax refund approvedGST/HST — no HST on settlement received but ITCs on termination paymentGST/HST — no "substantial renovation" of apartment buildingGST — partnership assessment was out of timeGST — purchase of real estateGST/HST — purchases by President as agentGST — rebate for ship towed out of the countryGST/HST — rebate to builder of student residenceGST — recognizing when a second objection had to be filedGST/HST — recovering HST not paid on sales incentivesGST/HST — recovering tax from customers after CRA assessmentGST — reducing assessment by almost 90%GST/HST — reducing assessment on self-supply of new homeGST — registrants were not associatedGST — reopening audit after expiry of appeal periodGST/HST — resolving dispute between buyer and seller of landGST — retroactively deeming a business to be GST-registeredGST — sales of condominiumsGST — school board's liability eliminatedGST — services to insolvent companies were zero-ratedGST/HST — services to US company were zero-ratedGST/HST — services were zero-ratedGST/HST — showing purchaser that real estate sale was exemptGST — stopping a client from being driven out of businessGST — summer camp teaching English as a second language was exemptGST — tax on purchase of commercial propertyGST — tire installer neglecting to bill GSTGST — townhouse renovationsGST/HST — valuation of student residenceGST — voluntary disclosure — negotiating interest relief and income tax offsetGST — voluntary disclosure acceptedGST — voluntary disclosure of GST collected on commercial rentsGST — voluntary disclosure of management feesGST — waiver of interestGST — waiver of interest and penaltyGST — waiver of penaltyGST — wash transactionGST — were courses educational or recreational?HST and the Ontario Staycation Tax Credit — correcting the provincial government’s misunderstandingPST — director's liabilityPST — directors' liability (car dealership)PST — directors' liability re data conversion projectPST — eliminating assessment for tax collected by franchisorPST — invoices written up incorrectlyPST — reducing tax on sale of book with CD-ROMPST — refund of tax on supermarket constructionIncome tax — $2 million payment on retirement was tax-freeIncome tax — another refund where return filed lateIncome tax — assessment for transfer by tax debtorIncome tax — auditor demanding too muchIncome tax — builder built home as personal residenceIncome tax — cancelling source deductions assessmentIncome tax — capital gains vs. incomeIncome tax — charitable donation of kidney beansIncome tax — charitable donation to US religious schoolIncome tax — child support deductionIncome tax — claiming business losses from past yearsIncome tax — companies were not carrying on Personal Services BusinessIncome tax — consequential reassessment of spouse was statute-barredIncome tax — corporation was bare trusteeIncome tax — cost of building home proven without receiptsIncome tax — costs of mother's Notice of Objection deductibleIncome tax — CRA chasing widow for deceased's RRSPIncome tax — deduction for Power of Attorney feesIncome tax — donations to suspect charity allowedIncome tax — expenses against unreported incomeIncome tax — expenses of setting up a film shelterIncome tax — general anti-avoidance ruleIncome tax — getting the $500,000 capital gains exemptionIncome tax — getting Third Level Fairness reviewIncome tax — income from UN agency was tax-freeIncome tax — income not earned personallyIncome tax — intercompany charges deductibleIncome tax — liability of deceased's estate for UK pension incomeIncome tax — no tax on litigation settlementIncome tax — non-resident tax on rental incomeIncome tax — officers of company were acting as outside sales reps, not employeesIncome tax — over-intrusive auditIncome tax — professional fees deduction allowedIncome tax — refund to non-resident sellers of propertyIncome tax — refunds where returns filed lateIncome tax — "reserve" was not a reserveIncome tax — RRSP on deathIncome tax — sale of condo was not a "flip" for profitIncome tax — sale of rental property by non-residentIncome tax — tax savings on selling homeIncome tax — taxpayer did not realize she was non-resident and exempt from Canadian taxIncome tax — trust for disabled childIncome tax — voluntary disclosureIncome tax — wages of family members were deductibleIncome tax — waiver of RRSP penalty taxIncome tax — waiver of TFSA penalty taxIncome tax — withholding tax on deemed dividendIncome tax and GST — real estate agent's business expensesCollections — execution preventing sale of propertyPayroll withholdings — directors' liability (company dissolved)Payroll withholdings — directors' liability (public company)Payroll withholdings — penalty for late remittanceYour problem goes here Next Case > GST/HST and income tax — real estate agent built home for personal use My client was a real estate agent who sold new condominium projects. He built a new home for himself and his girlfriend to live in. It was customized in many ways. He was not intending to sell it, and moved in for a period of time while construction was being finished. Unexpectedly, he received a very high offer, and so he sold the home and built a very similar home on a different property in the same neighbourhood. My client was audited for GST/HST. The GST/HST auditor decided that, since my client was in the real estate business and sold the home soon after it was built, he must have intended all along to sell it. Thus, in the auditor’s view, my client was liable for not collecting and remitting HST on the sale. The CRA assessed him for HST accordingly. I filed a detailed Notice of Objection with extensive supporting documents to show that the assessment was wrong. Meanwhile, the CRA began an income tax audit of my client, proposing to tax him on his gain on the home as business profit, again on the theory that he built the home in order to sell it. I sent the income tax auditor the same submission that we had used for the GST/HST objection. In this submission, I and my co-counsel showed why the auditors’ understanding of the facts was wrong: My client had never built a home before. He was a real estate agent and had bought rental properties, but was not in the building business. The home had a number of extremely unusual and expensive features, specific to my client’s and his girlfriend’s needs and lifestyle. These were features that no builder would ever put into a home they were intending to sell. I listed these and provided photos, drawings, emails and texts as supporting evidence. My client’s builder, architect and interior designer, and various other people all provided sworn Affidavits confirming that they knew he was building the home for himself to live in. I also provided numerous supporting emails and texts from the construction period whose tone and language clearly showed this to be true. The agent for the buyer provided an Affidavit confirming that when she first approached my client about the property, he told her it was “not for sale”, and only relented after she told him how much her clients were willing to pay. I provided evidence that my client had renewed the mortgage for 5 years shortly before he agreed to sell the property. As a result, he had to pay a substantial penalty to pay off the mortgage early. If he had been intending to sell, he would never have renewed the mortgage as a closed mortgage that could not be paid off without penalty. In total, I sent the CRA a 40-page analysis and explanation, with over 350 pages of supporting evidence. This took me and my co-counsel many hours and was a very expensive process. But it was worth it. At the end of the day, the GST/HST Appeals Officer and the income tax auditor both agreed that, whether or not they believed my client had actually moved into the home, it was clear that he built the home for personal use, and not for resale. As a result, they cancelled the HST assessment and the proposed income tax assessment, saving my client millions of dollars. Problem solved! (2024)