Sameden Oil of Canada, Inc. v. Provincial Treasurer of Alberta (1993), 102 DLR (4th) 125 (Alta. C.A.)

The taxpayer mailed his 1988 corporate tax return by registered mail from the United States on June 30, 1989, and the return was received by the respondent on July 13, 1989. In finding that the taxpayer had not complied with the requirement in the Alberta Corporate Tax Act that the return be filed with the Provincial Treasurer by June 30, 1989, the Court of Appeal affirmed the finding of Rawlins J. that the word "filed" is "clear and unequivocal and connotes the requirement of actual delivery before filing and therefore a mailed document is not considered 'filed' until it is received and not at the point of mailing".

A provision of the Alberta Corporate Tax Act requiring a taxpayer to "deliver" a return by a given date was replaced by a requirement that the taxpayer "file" the return by that date. In rejecting an argument that such amendment implied that a taxpayer no longer was required to ensure that the Treasurer of Alberta received the return by the specified date, Stratton J.A. noted that s. 33(2) of the Interpretation Act, R.S.A. 1980, c. I-7 specifically negated such a conclusion.