For its 2003 to 2015 taxation years, the taxpayer (“Bonnybrook”) did not file corporate tax returns and, consequently, was not entitled to receive dividend refunds. The Minister’s denial of Bonnybrook’s initial application in May 2016 for relief (which was based on the sole director of Bonnybrook having serious health issues for many years) was found at 2018 FCA 136 to be based on the incorrect view that s. 220(3) does not accord the Minister the discretion to extend the limitation in s. 129(1) in order to obtain the dividend refunds. In 2019, the Minister requested and received details of the director’s health problems. In the reconsideration decision at issue, the Minister acknowledged that the health issues were serious but concluded that taxpayer relief was not warranted because the director was capable of arranging for assistance in filing the returns and should have done so if she was not capable of preparing the returns herself.
In finding that there were no reasonable grounds for interfering with this decision, Woods JA indicated inter alia:
- that in order for the Minister’s decision to be reasonable “the outcome should be considered in light of the underlying rationale to ensure that the decision as a whole is transparent, intelligible and justified” and that the decision satisfied those requirements (para. 12).
- “The fact that the Minister did not discuss the harshness of the tax result does not mean that it was not considered and does not render the decision unreasonable.” (para. 15)