Holst et al. v. R. – TCC: Court rejects false tax receipts from church whose charitable status was revoked

Bill Innes on Current Tax Cases

http://decision.tcc-cci.gc.ca/tcc-cci/decisions/en/item/70885/index.do New Window

Holst et al. v. The Queen
(April 4, 2014 – 2014 TCC 104) was a case involving false tax receipts issued by a church whose charitable status had been revoked. The taxpayers argued that they should not be penalized as a result of the conduct of those running the church. The court did not accept their position:

[10] Mr. Holst argued that it would be unfair to penalize he and Ms. Hillier for the illegal conduct of others. It is unfortunate if the appellants put their trust in these churches, but I would note that it appears that they claimed significantly more as donations in their income tax returns than they actually made. Taxpayers must ensure that their income tax returns are accurate, and the appellants bear responsibility for failing to do so in this case.

[11] I would also note that the notices of appeal filed by the appellants continued to claim for false donations. The following is a quote from the notice of appeal of Mr. Holst.

[…] My donations were made in good faith to support the cause of the organization which I truly belief in. […] It appears that CRA is engaged in a fishing expedition and unjustifiably punishing donors that gave in good faith.

[12] Further, it was only during argument at the hearing that Mr. Holst acknowledged that the donation information provided by the churches was false.

[13] In light of my conclusion that the amount of the donations has not been proven, it is not necessary that I consider the respondent’s other argument concerning deficiencies with the donation receipts.

[14] The appeals will be dismissed.