The taxpayer was a member of a partnership which, through its counsel, entered into a settlement agreement with the Minister on March 31, 2004 (the last day on which the CRA could issue a determination pursuant to s. 152(1.4)) with the CRA issuing such determination on the same day. The partnership filed a Notice of Objection to the March determination, withdrew the objection on November 10, 2004 and then on August 22, 2005, the CRA issued notices of reassessment against the taxpayer.
The taxpayer was unsuccessful in his submission that his rights to object to the determination "expired or were determined" on March 31, 2004, so that the reassessment made on August 22, 2005 was more than one year later and out of time. After noting that the settlement letter of March 31, 2004 was prior to the Minister's determination (at para. 16), it was "difficult to see how a right of objection or appeal can be said to have 'expired' or been 'determined' before it has ever even come into existence", Hugessen, D.J. noted (at para. 18) that one would not talk of something expiring... if that thing had never come into being in the first place". Furthermore, the Settlement Agreement did not bind the Minister nor the taxpayer.