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GST — sales of condominiums

My client bought a block of several dozen condominium units from a bank which had foreclosed on the condominium developer. My client then sold them to individual purchasers. However, he arranged for title to be transferred directly by the bank to the purchasers. His lawyer was advised by Revenue Canada that he did not need to collect GST in these circumstances.

Years later, he was audited. After he did not respond to a proposal letter, Revenue Canada assessed him for over $750,000, including interest and penalties, for not collecting GST. In fact, Revenue Canada issued three assessments, against my client, himself in trust, and his corporation — totalling over $2.2 million.

At this point I got involved, and filed a Notice of Objection. I went through the files and determined that several of the condominium units should not have had GST assessed because they had been previously occupied. I also arranged for my client to claim input tax credits to eliminate most of the GST, and arranged for waiver of interest and penalty on several grounds.

By the time we were finished, the assessment had been reduced to a single bill for $24,000.

Problem (mostly) vanished!

(1997)