Chénard v. The Queen, 2012 DTC 1238 [at at 3668], 2012 TCC 211 (Informal Procedure) -- summary under Subsection 163(2)

The taxpayer claimed personal expenses as business expenses but in fact never carried on a business. Bédard found that the taxpayer was grossly negligent in claiming such losses, notwithstanding that he had poor English skills and relied on a firm of tax experts to construct his tax strategy (also written in English). The magnitude of the failures to accurately report income were such that no degree of ignorance of English or Canada's tax system could have excused them. Besides being totally unsubstantiated, the claimed business losses represented more than 80% of the taxpayer's income for each of the seven years in question. The taxpayer could not reasonably have concluded that he was entitled to the deductions claimed, and his failure to consult people other than the ones preparing his tax plan amounted to wilful blindness.