Rousseau – Quebec Court of Appeal finds that the Court of Quebec lacked jurisdiction to consider a source deduction issue

The taxpayer, who had been employed in Alberta and been subject to source deductions based on the federal and Alberta rates, was found by the Court of Quebec to be a Quebec resident. The taxpayer now submitted that the Court of Quebec should have recognized his right to deduct the Alberta portion of the source deductions made to CRA. The Court of Appeal rejected this submission on the basis that, under the Quebec equivalent of ITA s. 171(1) (TAA s. 93.1.21), the Court of Quebec lacked jurisdiction to consider this issue. After referring to federal decisions taking a similar approach (including Boucher and Paradis), the Court stated:

The same result applies here. The jurisdiction of the Court of Quebec under TAA section 93.1.21 is limited to the assessment by the Minister.

Neal Armstrong. Summary of Rousseau v. Agence du revenu du Québec, 2020 QCCA 1308 under s. 171(1).