News about Quebec legal developments
More than four years after the federal government introduced an offshore tax evasion tip line to fight offshore tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance, Quebec’s tax authority is following suit by launching a whistleblower program that will offer monetary rewards.
Continue reading “Quebec taxman launches program that rewards whistleblowers”
The Quebec Court of Appeal has ruled the province’s tax authority can issue demand letters and request the disclosure of financial information from third parties outside the province to determine whether a taxpayer is subject to the province’s tax laws.
The precedent-setting ruling will potentially have a substantial impact as it is widely expected to spur Revenue Quebec to issue more demand letters to third parties outside the province even though questions remain over the scope of the ruling, tax lawyers say.
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An action plan unveiled by Revenue Quebec to improve its dealings with taxpayers after the Quebec ombudsman accused the provincial tax department of becoming more intractable and less respectful is viewed with cautious optimism by business and tax professionals.
The action plan was ordered by Quebec Finance Minister Carlos Leitão to remedy an “unacceptable situation” following a scathing report by Quebec ombudsman Raymonde Saint-Germain who for the second year in a row found that Revenue Quebec frequently failed to apply the principles of natural justice or fundamental rules of procedural fairness, rigidly interpreted fiscal legislation despite being aware of jurisprudence contrary to its position, and provoked needless court action to resolve tax disputes with taxpayers.
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Revenue Quebec was ordered to pay $2.4 million, including $1 million in punitive damages, to a Montreal business after the Quebec Court of Appeal found that the provincial fiscal authority abused its powers and acted maliciously and in bad faith.
In a decision that sternly rebukes the provincial tax authority for abusing its “extraordinary powers,” the appeal court ruling held that Revenue Quebec owes a general duty of care and good faith to taxpayers as well as an “obligation to compensate” taxpayers who were the victims of wrongful conduct, according to tax lawyers.
Continue reading “Revenue Quebec ordered to pay $2.4 million”
A blistering report by Quebec ombudsman recently accused Revenue Quebec of becoming more intransigent and less respectful report towards taxpayers, prompting an immediate reaction from the provincial finance minister who ordered the tax department to come up with a “concrete action plan” to remedy the “unacceptable” situation.
Revenue Quebec “frequently failed” to apply the principles of natural justice or the fundamental rules of procedural fairness while recovering tax dollars, rigidly interpreted fiscal laws which often resulted in needless court action to resolve tax disputes with taxpayers, and “employed inadequate, and even abusive,” auditing methods, according to the latest report by the Protecteur du citoyen, the second year in a row that the taxman was castigated by the ombudsman.
Continue reading “Ombudsman comes down hard on Revenue Quebec”
A targeted program launched by Revenue Quebec to recover monies from employers and employees in the construction industry recouped nearly $1.2 billion in the past three fiscal years but critics say that the tax authority could recover more monies and curb black market activities more efficiently by introducing a series of easy-to-implement measures.
Continue reading “Quebec tax authorities target construction sector”
Quebec’s tax authorities can issue demand letters and request the disclosure of financial information from third parties located outside of the province to determine whether the taxpayer is subject to the province’s tax laws, ruled Quebec Superior Court.
The ruling illustrates the daunting challenge taxpayers face when trying to quash formal demand letters and requests for information by tax authorities, particularly when they are trying to ascertain the residency of corporations or trusts in order to establish where it makes its management decisions, according to tax experts.
Continue reading “Ruling extends reach of taxman’s demand letters”
Yacine Agnaou is one of a handful of Canadian lawyers who took on Quebec tax authorities and plead a case so successfully that now others are trying to follow suit. Last year Agnaou won a precedent-setting ruling that condemned Revenue Quebec to pay nearly $4 million, including a staggering $2 million in punitive damages, to a businessman who was forced to shut down his business after it mishandled his case. Lawyers from different firms, evidently emboldened, are now working together to plead a case before the Quebec Court of Appeal to stop Revenue Quebec’s controversial policy of holding companies liable for the tax delinquencies of its suppliers.
Continue reading “Montreal tax lawyer fights federal whistleblower watchdog”
The Tax Court of Canada, in yet another legal blow to Quebec’s tax authorities, chastised Revenue Quebec for expecting business to act as a “taxation police” after it withheld input tax credits from a meat processing company because it ostensibly had not been diligent in its dealings with its suppliers.
The precedent-setting ruling, the third to harshly castigate the Quebec taxman in recent months, found that nothing in the Excise Tax Act (ETA) allows tax authorities to hold a company liable for the tax delinquencies of its suppliers. In uncharacteristically blunt language, Justice Alain Tardif noted that it would be unreasonable to expect business to perform complete background checks on all its suppliers, especially since legislation grants tax authorities large powers to investigate and demand information.
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A Montreal businessman who was forced to shut down his business after Quebec tax authorities mishandled his case was awarded nearly $4 million, including a staggering $2 million in punitive damages, following a precedent-setting ruling by Quebec Superior Court.
In an extremely harsh judgment that sheds light on Revenue Quebec’s tax collection policies and questions its administrative practices, Justice Steve Reimnitz held that the provincial tax agency abused its powers, acted maliciously and in bad faith, and exhibited unjustified and blameworthy administrative doggedness in the way it handled the tax file of Groupe Enico Inc. and its founder Jean-Yves Archambault. The comprehensive 197-page ruling in Groupe Enico inc. c. Agence du revenu du Québec 2013 QCCS 5189 details a series of bizarre and improbable events, triggered by a dishonest auditor, that has been likened by Quebec tax lawyers to an absurd “horror story” that “was bound to happen.”
“There have not been many decisions that have been rendered by the courts where Revenue Quebec has been sued for damages,” pointed out Alexandre Dufresne, a Montreal tax lawyer and managing partner of Spiegel Sohmer. “Not only that, Revenue Quebec lost and the damages were very substantial so in that sense it is a very important decision. The judgment outlines what I would call a horror story – it really was an abusive audit.”
Continue reading “Revenue Quebec ordered to pay $2 million in punitive damages”
Cookie maker par excellence, Monsieur Félix & Mr. Norton, heaved a sigh of relief when Quebec Superior Court annulled a resolution adopted nearly three years ago by the its Board of Directors to dole out dividends totaling $950,000 in a ruling that inches Quebec civil law towards the acceptance of the doctrine of rectification. Continue reading “Quebec inches its way towards doctrine of rectification”