Case information

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Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Legislation – Interpretation – Taxation – Constitutional law – Goods and services tax – Subdivision of land in Quebec – Sale of lots – GST on sale claimed by tax authorities – Challenge by taxpayers – Seizure before judgment – Whether land was taxable supply – Whether land was exempt supply – Whether application of GST as sought would amount to successive direct taxation – Whether Federal Court of Appeal decision inconsistent with Court’s decisions, including Reference re Goods and Services Tax, [1992] 2 S.C.R. 445 – Excise Tax Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. E-15, ss. 123(1) and 165(1) and Schedule V – Constitution Act, 1867, s. 91(3).

In 1988, the applicants purchased a large piece of land near the Magog River with the intention of building a real estate development accompanied by a marina; cadastral subdivisions were even made for that purpose. However, when their plan did not materialize, they sold nine of the lots at a loss between 2003 and 2008. On the basis of expert advice, they believed that they did not have to collect or remit GST on those sales. The tax authorities did not agree and, in 2009, issued an assessment against the applicants as suppliers of “taxable supplies” for a total of $17,059; in 2013, they made a seizure before judgment of each applicant’s movable property and bank accounts for the total amount.