tax

The majority found that the fuel charge and excess emissions charges imposed under the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, Part 5 (the “GGPPA”) of the Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1 are constitutionally valid on the basis of coming within the national concern branch of the federal peace, order and good government (POGG) power. In this regard, it stated (at paras. 167, 181-183 and 198):

Subsection 18(2) only limited deductions otherwise available and did not establish that property taxes that the taxpayer was unable to deduct under section 9 due to the application of the matching principle, were deductible.

Dubé J. found that a tax is a levy that is "(1) enforceable by law; (2) imposed under the authority of a legislature; (3) imposed by a public body and (4) for a public purpose". (p. 5357)

The taxpayer, who was a U.S. citizen resident in Canada, did not claim treaty benefits when filing his U.S. return, with the result that his U.S.-source pension income was subject to U.S. income tax at graduated rates rather than the treaty-reduced rate of 15%.

Contributions paid by the taxpayer (a former resident of the U.K. and a dual citizen of Canada and the U.K.) to the U.K. Inland Revenue Department in order to maintain rights to a future old age pension in the U.K. did not qualify as non-business income taxes because the payments were made on a voluntary basis. Campbell T.C.J. quoted Lawson v. Interior Tree, Fruit and Committee of Direction, [1931] SCR 357 that "A tax is a levy, enforceable by law imposed under the authority of a legislature imposed by public body and levied for a public purpose".

Probate fees imposed by Ontario constituted taxes rather than fees given that they were enforceable by law (there being a practical and legal necessity for executors in most instances to obtain letters of probate), levied by a public body (the Ontario Court (General Division)), intended for public purposes (the defraying of costs of court administration in general, and not simply the costs of granting probate) and no nexus existed between the amount of the levy (which was calculated on an ad valorem basis) and the cost of the service for granting letters probate.