Case information

Taxation — Income tax — Charitable registration — Minister suspending applicant’s donation receipt privileges for one year due to non-compliance with charitable registration requirements — Whether the Federal Court of Appeal erred in upholding the Tax Court’s decision not to exercise its jurisdiction to oversee the administrative action of the Canada Revenue Agency —Whether the Federal Court of Appeal erred in holding that the Tax Court was entitled to discount applicant’s unchallenged assertions in determining whether there was irreparable harm, and was insufficient to support a stay under the Income Tax Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. 1 (5th Supp.) (“ITA”) —Whether the Federal Court of Appeal erred in misconceiving and attaching undue weight to the public interest factor in the balance of convenience part of the test, and in upholding the Tax Court’s finding that the balance of convenience favoured the Minister — Whether the Federal Court of Appeal erred in holding that the principles of natural justice did not apply

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.

Human Concern Inc. (“HCI”) is registered as a charitable organization under the ITA. Following an audit, the Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) sent a letter to HCI, in which it proposed to revoke HCI’s registration and invited it to make submissions. The CRA did not revoke the registration but it decided to impose a monetary penalty, the magnitude of which triggered an automatic suspension of HCI’s receipting privileges for a period one year, effective almost immediately. The CRA found that HCI was involved in making false charitable tax receipts in the third-party scheme. HCI filed a notice of objection to the penalties imposed and also applied to the Tax Court of Canada for a postponement of the suspension pursuant to s. 188.2(4) of the ITA. The Tax Court considered whether it was just and equitable to postpone the suspension and applied the principles set out in RJR-Macdonald Inc. v. Canada, [1994] 1 S.C.R. 311. The Tax Court dismissed the application. This decision was upheld on appeal.