After referring to "the general principle that, in a tax appeal, the Crown's factual assumptions are taken as true unless they are rebutted," Sharlow J.A. went on to state (also at para. 35):
[T]his general principle, like all general principles, may have exceptions. The justification for the general principle is that the taxpayer knows or has the means of knowing all of the facts relevant to an income tax assessment. A trier of fact is entitled to draw an inference adverse to a party who has or may reasonably be presumed to have some evidence that is relevant to disputed facts, but fails to adduce that evidence. However, there may be situations where fairness would require that no onus be placed on a taxpayer to rebut a specific factual assumption made by the Crown. One example might be a fact that is solely within the knowledge of the Crown.
She went on to find that no such situation was before her.