Mokrycke - a CRA decision, refusing to recommend FAA relief for reassessments that the taxpayer had failed to appeal, is set aside by the Federal Court

The taxpayer sought a remission order to reverse assessments which he stated were unjustified - but which were not reversed at the notice of objection and were not appealed to the Tax Court allegedly due to his personal circumstances and deficient performance by his accountant. Before setting aside the CRA Remission Committee’s decision and remitting it for consideration by a different decision maker, Norris J stated that the Committee’s decision was “lacking in justification, transparency and intelligibility.”

The decision referenced the taxpayer’s failure to demonstrate the incorrectness of the assessments, whereas the taxpayer’s request for reconsideration in this regard was “the very point in issue.” As for the Committee’s stated position that a taxpayer is responsible for the failures of the professional to whom he entrusts his affairs, “it is insufficient to simply state the rule without also explaining why an exception should not be made in this case.”

Neal Armstrong. Summary of Mokrycke v. Canada (Attorney General), 2020 FC 1027 under Financial Administration Act, s. 23(2).