Taylor
T.C.J.:
This
is
the
Agyapong
matter.
This
is
an
appeal
heard
in
Toronto,
Ontario
on
the
dates
of
April
7,
1997
and
August
7,
1997
against
an
assessment
under
the
Income
Tax
Act,
the
Act,
in
which
the
Respondent
disallowed
the
claim
for
married
status
of
the
Appellant
for
the
years
1992
and
1993.
Mr.
Agyapong
testified
he
had
been
married
in
Ghana
according
to
the
customs
of
the
people
in
that
country
in
a
very
informal
ceremony,
one
which
was
not
registered
with
the
state.
He
had
two
witnesses
at
the
trial
to
support
his
comments
regarding
both
his
marriage
and
the
family
union
manner
in
which
the
marital
arrangements
had
been
performed.
He
did
file
some
public
information
which
indicated
this
different
way
of
publicly
asserting
such
marriage
agreement
between
parties.
The
Respondent
noted
that
Mr.
Agyapong
had
filed
an
immigration
entry
document
when
coming
to
Canada
in
1987
as
a
single
person.
Again,
when
bringing
the
lady
whom
he
claimed
was
his
wife
to
Canada
in
1995,
he
agreed
she
was
shown
as
a
single
person.
He
stated
he
was
later
married
in
Canada
according
to
Canadian
law.
In
my
view,
the
verbal
support
for
the
asserted
marriage
is
not
sufficient
to
overturn
the
Respondent’s
reliance
on
the
sworn
statements
of
the
Appellant
that
he
and
his
present
wife
were
single
when
reaching
Canada.
The
Court
is
being
asked
in
this
appeal
to
accept
first
that
marriage
in
the
informal
manner
with
no
state
regulation,
that
he
suggests
as
adequate
in
Ghana,
should
be
recognized
as
satisfactory
for
income
tax
purposes
in
Canada
and
second,
that
the
Court
should
accept
the
very
limited
verbal
information
made
available
in
support
of
his
assertion
that
such
a
ceremony
was,
in
fact,
conducted
in
his
case
as
opposed
to
the
sworn
statements.
I
do
not
say
that
he
was
not
married
in
Ghana,
merely
that
the
proof
necessary
to
substantiate
it
for
the
deduction
claimed
was
not
made
available.
The
appeal
is
dismissed.
Appeal
dismissed.
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