RevCon – Federal Court of Appeal finds that s. 231.7 continues to apply to non-lawyers

Stratas JA found that Chambre des notaires and Thompson did not invalidate s. 231.7, and that there the Supreme Court instead had merely “read down section 231.7 to exclude lawyers and notaries,” so that the taxpayer was required to disclose materials which were not covered by solicitor-client privilege.

The decision below of Mosley J, which was affirmed, included findings that:

The name of a law firm, without more, is not protected by solicitor-client privilege. Nor is the revelation of shorthand tax language used by tax planning advisors.

Neal Armstrong. Summary of Revcon Oilfield Constructors Inc. v. Canada (National Revenue), 2017 FCA 22 under s. 231.7(1) and summary of MNR v. Revcon Oilfield Constructors Inc., 2015 FC 524, aff’d 2017 FCA 22 under s. 232(1) – solicitor-client privilege.