Case information

Taxation — Income tax — Assessment — Computation of income — Provincial tax — Trial court allowing Ville de Québec’s contestation and vacating notices of assessment issued by Agence du revenu du Québec — Trial court finding, according to particular facts of case and provisions of applicable legislation, that indemnities that were paid by City to Syndicat des employés manuels de la Ville de Québec, which were then partially redistributed to employees, were not wages — Court of Appeal dismissing appeal in absence of palpable and overriding error — Whether Ville de Québec must be subject to assessments of employer on amounts paid to employees by Union.

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.

The Agence du revenu du Québec (“ARQ”) contested a trial judgment that allowed the contestation of Ville de Québec (“City”) and vacated the notices of assessment issued by the ARQ for the years 2015 and 2016. The trial judge found that the indemnities paid by the City were comparable to damages or compensatory indemnities paid to make up for a loss of earnings and not employment income within the meaning of the provisions in question. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, noting that the ARQ was raising once again the same arguments it had made at trial, without demonstrating the presence of a palpable and overriding error.