Govt. to fight court order allowing Iristel’s judicial review to stand

The government has signalled that it will file a motion to overturn last month's ruling from a federal judge which allowed Iristel Inc.'s judicial review into the conduct of the Canada Revenue Agency during a pair of audits into the company. In a Friday filing with the Federal Court, Attorney General David Lametti -- on behalf of the CRA -- indicated that he plans to file a motion to set aside Judge Kevin Aalto's Jan 21 court order. Aalto struck down the CRA's argument that Iristel had made the application in support of a future tort claim against the tax authority. The Attorney General and CRA argue in the Friday filing that Aalto erred by finding that Iristel's application was not an attack on the correctness of the tax assessments, which the CRA had argued it was. The CRA also said in the filing it will argue that Aalto had failed to "consider and apply the doctrine of adequate alternative remedy" in his order allowing the judicial review to stand. In July, the Federal Court ruled that it did in fact have the jurisdiction to hear Iristel’s case against the CRA over its conduct, while at the same time dismissing Iristel’s claim for interim relief in the form of $63.2 million in tax returns it said it is owed but that the CRA is withholding. The long-running dispute between the company and the country's tax collectors has been heated at times, as in September when Iristel accused the CRA of the “deliberate mischaracterization” of conversations between the CRA and the CRTC about whether or not communities in the far north would be without 911 service should Iristel go under because of a tax bill. In 2018 the CRA audited Iristel’s tax returns, and after initially withholding the company’s tax returns during the audit, eventually released them after a request by Iristel. The audit did not end up altering the amount of Iristel’s returns. A year ago last fall, the CRA then initiated a second audit of the company covering the periods in 2019, and then expanded the audit to cover the first two months of 2020. Iristel again asked for the release of the tax returns while the audit was underway, except the second time Minister of National Revenue Diane Lebouthillier refused. The CRA has said it believes Iristel may be using a “carousel scheme” to claim tax refunds that it did not pay in the first place. That issue is proceeding separately in tax court. — Reporting by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca and editing by Adam Langenberg at alangenberg@thewirereport.ca

Govt. to fight court order allowing Iristel’s judicial review to stand

News | February 2, 2021

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Govt. to fight court order allowing Iristel’s judicial review to stand

News | February 2, 2021

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