The Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) is a low-income benefit for those collecting Old Age Security. It is based on income. Seniors withdrawing from their RRSPs can see almost a dollar for dollar decrease in their GIS. A taxpayer challenged this and said RRSP withdrawals should not be used in the calculation. The Tax Court of Canada did not agree with her and determined RRSP income should be used in the calculation.
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Spousal support or not
The taxpayer claimed spousal support on her 2013 tax return. The claim was denied by the CRA because the parties’ settlement agreement was not issued until March 2015. The Tax Court of Canada (TCC) agreed with the concept. However, the TCC found that the March 2015 court order was from an agreement reached in November 2014 which included the 2013 payments. It was the same agreement accepted by the Superior Court judge. Therefore, by chance, the deduction was allowed.
Woodlot as part of principal residence
The taxpayer had two lots; one contained her house and the other was a woodlot. She sold the woodlot, realized a small capital gain, and claimed the principal residence exemption. She claimed the woodlot was the main source of wood used to heat her house. The Tax Court agreed with the CRA that the woodlot was not necessary to fulfill the house’s function as a residence.
Sticks and Stones
The CRA applied for an order to the Tax Court to prevent a taxpayer from issuing further appeals to them. The Tax Court agreed that a) the taxpayer’s appeal contained allegations of dishonesty, incompetence, fraud, and dereliction of duty against the agents, b) the appeal was scandalous, frivolous, and vexatious with no reasonable ground in support of the appeal, and c) it was not the first of such vexatious Appeals filed by the taxpayer. The Tax Court said the order was therefore justified.
You get what you get
A taxpayer was court-ordered to produce documentation to the CRA by a certain date. The information was produced, lots of it, and it was heavily redacted. The CRA asked the courts for a search warrant to get the information themselves. The court established that the court order didn’t say what, or in what format, the information was to be provided. The taxpayer had complied by providing the information asked of them. The court felt the CRA’s request for a search warrant was an abuse of power.
