Pellerin v. Agence du revenu du Québec, 2017 QCCA 1339

After stating (at para. 16) that s. 1014 of the Taxation Act (similar to ITA) “provides that the burden of proof rests on the taxpayer who contests a notice of assessment,” the Court affirmed that finding below that it would not change such burden on the taxpayer if the ARQ auditor instigating the assessment under appeal would receive a resulting bonus, the Court stated (at para. 20, TaxInterpretations translation):

The judge did not err in affirming that the burden on the appellant cannot be reversed on the sole basis of proof of a bonus system related to the audit process. Such proof would not demonstrate error in the facts on which the respondent relied in making such assessments and would thus not constitute prima facie proof of the incorrectness of the notice of assessment.

After stating (at para. 16, TaxInterpretations transalation) that s. 1014 of the Taxation Act (similar to ITA) “provides that the burden of proof rests on the taxpayer who contests a notice of assessment,” the Court rejected a submission that proof that an ARQ auditor would enjoy an increased bonus as a result of assessing the taxpayer would reverse the normal burden of proof on the taxpayer to establish prima facie proof of the incorrectness of the assessment.