A B.C. Supreme Court Justice has upheld a lower court decision that saw a Prince George man fined $6,000 for failing to file completed and signed income tax returns for six years.
Lane Ronald John Logan was seeking to have a September 2011 ruling by Prince George provincial court judge Darrell O'Byrne overturned, arguing in part that O'Byrne erred in finding Logan failed to take the necessary steps to meet Canada Revenue Agency's request for the returns.
However, in a decision issued Monday, Justice Thomas Melnick agreed with O'Byrne.
According to the ruling, in August 2007, when the CRA served notices of requirements for the years 2001 to 2006, Logan, a professional engineer, told a CRA official he had not filed because he was still waiting answers to certain questions about his 1998 return.
However, Melnick said the official could find no record in the CRA's files of the request and it was not until slightly more than a month before the 90-day compliance period was to expire that Logan saw his accountant and then failed to provide enough information for her to complete the returns.
And when the accountant told Logan she was going to be leaving the country for a time, he assured her the matter was not urgent.
Just as the compliance period ended, Logan filed six returns with a covering letter but they were unsigned and "essentially blank," except for information identifying Logan as the filer.
Eventually, between July and November 2008, amended returns were filed without any additional information from CRA, "and there was evidence that in 2007, the appellant was aware of his income when applying for a car loan," Melnick said.
Logan had also maintained that by filing the blank returns by the deadline, he would be subject to only a $100 fine on each return for failure to provide the information requested, but Melnick once again agreed with O'Byrne.
"The appellant did not inadvertently fail to supply some minor piece of information while otherwise complying with the [National Revenue] Minister's demand; he submitted blank forms, effectively refusing to comply with the Minister's demand," Melnick wrote.
Logan had also argued the CRA failed to establish that his tax liability was subject to a "genuine and serious inquiry" under a section of the Income Tax Act that provides for fines of $1,000 to $25,000 and instead, was subject only to paying taxes owed plus interest.
But Melnick found Logan's submissions on that aspect "incongruous" and that under cross-examination, "it was clear that the appellant was aware that his failure to file tax returns was the subject of an investigation and he could have had no doubt that the Minister had a genuine and serious interest in determining his tax liability."
Logan has until Dec. 20 to pay the fine.
