Bontje v. Canada

Bontje v. Canada

The Court held the Decision was reasonable: initiation of enforcement action (the March 28, 2008 request and earlier CRA contacts) placed the applicants on CRA's radar and disqualified them from VDP relief under IC00-1R2; although arbitrary assessments are not enforcement actions, other identified enforcement actions were sufficient to deny relief.

Citation
2011 FC 165
Parties
Applicant (individual): Larry Bontje; Applicant (corporation): Forcap International Limited; Applicant (corporation): Forcap International Inc.; Respondent: Her Majesty the Queen
Court
Federal Court
Jurisdiction
Canada
Judgment Date
11 February 2011
Procedural Posture
Judicial Review of Administrative Decision (cra Vdp) / Final Judgment at Federal Court
Outcome
Application dismissed with costs to the Respondent
Legal Topics
Voluntary Disclosures Program, Enforcement Action, Arbitrary Assessment, Standard of Review, Discretion
Source Language
English
Tax Law Administrative Law Judicial Review Voluntary Disclosures Program Enforcement Action Arbitrary Assessment Standard of Review Discretion

Case Brief

Summary, issues, holding and outcome

More case intelligence is available

Unlock the full research layer for this judgment.

Full judgment text Legal principles 4 Authorities cited 3 Party arguments 2 Amounts and remedies 1
Sign in to unlock

Parties

Larry Bontje

Applicant (individual)

Forcap International Limited

Applicant (corporation)

Forcap International Inc.

Applicant (corporation)

Her Majesty the Queen

Respondent

Procedural Posture

Judicial Review of Administrative Decision (cra Vdp) / Final Judgment at Federal Court

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether applicants are eligible for CRA Voluntary Disclosures Program relief
  2. 2 Whether initiation of enforcement action (requests, contacts, assessments) bars VDP relief
  3. 3 Whether enforcement actions can be treated as expired for VDP purposes

Ratio Decidendi

The Court held the Decision was reasonable: initiation of enforcement action (the March 28, 2008 request and earlier CRA contacts) placed the applicants on CRA's radar and disqualified them from VDP relief under IC00-1R2; although arbitrary assessments are not enforcement actions, other identified enforcement actions were sufficient to deny relief.

Court Disposition

Application dismissed with costs to the Respondent

Orders

  • Application for judicial review dismissed with costs to the Respondent