In McMillian v. Her Majesty the Queen, the Federal Court of Appeal clarified the burden of proof in tax cases. We believed the decision was important and, in August 2012, we posted a blog article about the FCA’s decision. Recently, The Bottom Line (Canada’s Accounting and Finance Professionals newspaper) published an article on McMillian and asked for our reaction. We are flattered by the author’s decision to include our interpretation in the article entitled Court affirms onus of proof on taxpayer.
Federal Court of Appeal decision in DAC Investment Holdings (2026 FCA 35) shows how GAAR disputes can turn on tax regime integrity rather than individual provisions.
In Bakorp, the FCA held that subsection 165(1.11) confines a large corporation’s appeal to the issues specified in its Notice of Objection, dismissing the case without reviewing the tax merits.