Kutchka – Tax Court of Canada finds that a taxpayer’s “spouse” includes his widow

Graham J found that a transfer from the RRSP of a deceased tax debtor to his surviving spouse qualified as a transfer to his spouse for purposes of s. 160(1), so that she could be assessed for his unpaid taxes. He noted that:

• although dictionary definitions and the legal meaning of spouse “clearly contemplate a relationship between two living people,” its colloquial meaning extended to widows
• some provisions, such as s. 70(6), also use “spouse” in its colloquial sense
• it appeared quite unlikely that Parliament would have intended that transfers by RRSP to a surviving spouse would be exempted from s. 160 given that transfers by will clearly are caught.

He noted that using the colloquial meaning of spouse was not necessarily transferable to other provisions with a different context and purpose.

Neal Armstrong. Summary of Kutchka v. The Queen, 2015 TCC 289 under s. 160(1).