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 — couple built one home for sale and one to live inGST/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 and income tax — family built home for personal useGST/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/HST — home was built for family, not for sale, and company held it as bare trusteeGST — 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 — input tax credits — “medical” company was not making exempt supplies My client was a company that provided a software platform enabling physicians to provide remote services to hospitals. For every $100 it collected from hospitals and OHIP (the Ontario Health Insurance Plan), it kept 30% and paid 70% over to the doctors. The company’s CFO reported the $100 as income and the $70 as an expense on its financial statements, and thus treated the income from the hospitals and OHIP as part of its revenues. For HST purposes, the company claimed full input tax credits (ITCs). The CRA audited it, and denied the ITCs on the ground that the company was making exempt supplies of health care services. The company filed a Notice of Objection, with the CFO handling the matter himself. The Appeals Officers allowed some ITCs, but still denied most. At this point the company came to me for help. While only one year had been assessed so far, the company was potentially on the hook for over half a million dollars, plus future years’ ITCs. I analyzed the company’s contracts, payment records and other documents, and concluded it had been reporting incorrectly on its financial statements. It was really acting as agent for the doctors when billing the hospitals and OHIP, and was remitting to the doctors the fees it had collected on their behalf. It was actually making only taxable supplies of services to the doctors, not exempt supplies. (It had correctly charged HST on the $30 it got from the doctor on each transaction.) Rather than launching an expensive Tax Court appeal, I filed a new Notice of Objection, which I could do because CRA Appeals had reassessed following the earlier objection. I explained in the submission how the legislation (and CRA’s Appeals Manual) permitted this as an alternative to a Court appeal. In the objection, I took an entirely new approach. I explained that, legally, the company was not entitled to practise medicine, so it could not be supplying medical services to the hospitals. Rather, it was acting as the doctors’ agent. I showed how the company’s contracts, billings and other documents were consistent with this. I also provided an Affidavit from the CFO, swearing that he had made a mistake when showing the company’s revenues as coming from the hospitals and OHIP. The CRA assigned the file to the same Appeals Officer who had considered it before. He was very dubious about the new argument and was not inclined to accept it. I asked for a conference call with him and his Team Leader, and went through my submission in detail with them. (I also pointed out that official CRA policy is not to send an objection to an officer who has previously dealt with the file.) Soon after the conference call, the objection was allowed and the ITCs were reassessed to be allowed in full. The Team Leader told me later that the Affidavit from the CFO was important to their conclusion that the facts had changed from what they had earlier understood. Problem solved! (2022)