D
E
Taylor:—This
is
an
application
for
extension
of
time
under
section
167
of
the
Income
Tax
Act
SC
1970-71-72,
c
63,
as
amended,
dated
January
15,
1981,
to
permit
the
applicant
to
file
a
notice
of
objection
to
an
income
tax
assessment
dated
June
27,
1980,
covering
the
years
1975,
1976,
1977
and
1978.
Both
in
the
written
submission
and
in
testimony,
the
taxpayer
cited
the
fact
that
his
bookkeeper
had
not
filed
the
appropriate
papers,
and
that
as
a
fairly
recent
arrival
in
Canada
he
himself
was
not
competent
to
understand
the
rules
in
order
to
do
so.
Counsel
for
the
Minister
put
forward
that
this
was
a
standard
case
in
which
the
taxpayer
simply
blamed
his
agent;
and
secondly,
even
with
reasons
given
by
Mr
Nikiforos,
the
taxpayer
had
not
applied
for
the
extension
as
early
as
he
could
have
done.
Reference
was
made
to
the
case
of
René
Ouellette
v
MNR,
[1981]
CTC
2300;
81
DTC
292.
While
the
comments
in
Ouellette
(supra)
are
valid,
there
are
two
points
which
have
been
taken
into
account
by
the
Board
in
this
matter.
First,
during
the
first
period
of
90
days
following
the
assessment
in
question,
this
applicant
was
attempting
to
obtain
from
his
brother
in
Greece
certain
documents
pertaining
to
his
desire
to
object
to
the
assessment.
These
docu-
ments
did
arrive
in
early
October
1980
and
were
shown
to
the
Board.
Secondly,
the
assessment
in
question
is
based
on
a
net
worth
examination
of
the
applicant’s
affairs,
and
even
the
most
cursory
examination
of
the
respondent’s
documentation
in
support
of
the
assessment
would
indicate
that
the
applicant
should
be
provided
with
an
opportunity
to
contest
it.
The
bookkeeper
in
question
did
not
appear
at
the
hearing,
but
the
applicant
did
have
available
a
chartered
accountant
who
did
testify
that
he
now
was
responsible?
for
the
applicant’s
business
affairs.
In
the
circumstances,
the
application
is
granted.
Application
granted.
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