The limited partnership units of the appellant were held by a sub-trust (the "Trust") of an income fund (the "Fund"). Unit subscription proceeds received by the Fund on its initial public offering ("IPO") and on a subsequent private placement of Fund units were used to acquire debt and units of the Trust, which in turn subscribed for LP units of the appellant. The appellant used those proceeds to acquire intellectual property and related rights to be used by it in a pizza franchising business.
Before completion of the IPO, the Fund, Trust, appellant and its general partner entered into a "Financing Agreement" in which they agreed that all financing expense in connection with the IPO, other than the underwriters' fee, were to be incurred on behalf of the appellant; and at the same time the appellant entered into an "Administration Agreement" with the Fund in which it agreed to administer the Fund and "as agent of the Fund" to pay for all outlays and expenses incurred by it in such administration.
V. Miller J found that, as pursuant to the Administration Agreement, various expenses (principally relating to the IPO and private placement) were incurred by the appellant as agent for the Fund, the appellant was not the recipient of the related services and was not entitled to input tax credits therefor (para. 31). The Financing Agreement did not render the appellant the recipient of such supplies as the supplies were not made pursuant to that agreement (para. 26), nor could it be construed as causing there to be a re-supply of the services by the Fund to the appellant, as the services were consumed by the Fund (para. 32).
Furthermore, even if the appellant was the recipient of the supplies, the expenses would have been incurred by it so that it could receive money from the Trust in exchange for issuing LP units, which constituted the making of an exempt supply (para. 42).
There also were various deficiencies in the invoices of the suppliers. V. Miller J stated (para. 51):
[W]here an invoice represented services to both the Appellant and the Fund and I could not ascertain the portion payable by the Appellant, I did not allow the ITC involved.