MacGuigan JA rejected the position of the Minister that amounts paid to a drilling operator in 1974 for drilling work to be performed in 1975 did not represent an "expense incurred in drilling...an oil or gas well" in respect of the taxpayer's 1974 taxation year. He stated (at pp. 6530, 6531) that the word "incurred"
has always had the meaning of 'to become liable for or subject to'. ... [T]he proper test for defining expenses incurred by a taxpayer in a particular year must be cast in terms of the absoluteness of the transactions in which he engaged during that year: are the transactions absolute, with no contingencies as to disposition, use or enjoyment?
Here, the taxpayer had no refund rights with respect to the 1974 payment, so that it was incurred by it in 1974.