Guindon - Court of Appeal indicates that the Act's administrative penalties are not criminal even when large

The Court of Appeal reversed the Tax Court's decision in Guindon (see previous post) - which vacated a s. 163.2 (professionals') penalty on the basis that the taxpayer had not been given the procedural protections appropriate for the imposition of a criminal penalty.  Although the reversal occurred principally on procedural grounds, Stratas JA also indicated that the s. 163.2 penalty (like other such penalties in the Act) was not criminal in nature even though it could be quite large (as happened in this case).  Although the penalty was mechanically calculated, the Minister was required on a s. 220(3.1) relief application to take the "fairness purpose" of that provision into account - however here, no timely (within 10 years) application was made.

Scott Armstrong.  Summary of Guindon v. The Queen, 2013 FCA 153, under ss. 163.2(5), 220(3.1) and Charter ss. 11 and 12.