Tax Court Dismisses Motion to Quash $15-Million Appeal

On August 12, 2026, the Tax Court of Canada dismissed a motion by the Crown to quash an appeal brought by the Estate of the late Troy E. Ducharme (the “Estate”) concerning two penalty reassessments under the Income Tax Act.

The Crown argued that the reassessments were mailed on March 17, 2023, and that the Estate’s objections, filed on April 24, 2025, were therefore out of time. The Estate maintained that its objections were timely because the CRA had not established that the reassessments were mailed before March 3, 2025.

The motion turned on whether the Crown had adduced sufficient evidence to establish that the reassessments were mailed in March 2023. The Tax Court concluded that the Crown’s affidavit evidence was insufficient to prove the alleged mailing date and dismissed the motion to quash, allowing the appeal the proceed.

Although the Crown benefits from relaxed evidentiary rules when proving that a notice has been mailed to a taxpayer, this decision highlights that the Crown must still satisfy its evidentiary burden. By successfully challenging the sufficiency of the Crown’s evidence, the Estate preserved its right to have its $15-million appeal determined on its merits.

Aird & Berlis represented the Estate with a team including Louise Summerhill, Stephanie D’Amico and Rebecca Skinner (Tax Controversy/Tax Litigation).