Date: 19980107

Docket: 97-281-GST-I

BETWEEN:

WILLIAM ROBERT CARPENTER,

Appellant,

and

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN,

Respondent.

Reasons for Judgment

Bonner, J.T.C.C.

[1] This is an appeal from an assessment under Part IX of the Excise Tax Act dated July 8, 1996. By that assessment the Minister of National Revenue disallowed a rebate under subsection 256(2) of the Act with respect to the Appellant owner-built home on the basis that the application for the rebate was filed late.

[2] It was common ground that the Appellant’s house was first occupied by him on February 1, 1994 and that the application for the rebate was not filed before February 27, 1996. The reason for the delay in making the application was that the Appellant had to travel frequently between in Simcoe Ontario and Vancouver in connection with the care of his daughter who is afflicted with multiple sclerosis.

[3] The version of subsection 256(3) which imposes the deadline for filing the application for a rebate in the circumstances of this case reads:

(3) A rebate shall not be paid under subsection (2) in respect of a residential complex to an individual unless the individual files an application for the rebate within two years after the earlier of

(a) the day the complex is first occupied as described in subparagraph (2)(d)(i) or ownership is transferred as described in subparagraph (2)(d)(ii), and

(b) the day construction or substantial renovation of the complex is substantially completed.

Given the time lapse between February 1, 1994 and the day on which the house was first occupied and February 27, 1996, the day on which the application for the rebate was filed it is quite clear that payment of a rebate is prohibited. Although I initially thought otherwise there is nothing in the recent amendments to the Excise Tax Act which can be of assistance to the Appellant.¹

[4] For the foregoing reasons the appeal will be dismissed.

Signed at Ottawa, Canada, this 7th day of January 1998.

"Michael J. Bonner"

J.T.C.C.