Slobodrian v. Minister of National Revenue, (2003) 312 N.R. 176 (FCA)

• Judge: Desjardins, Létourneau and Noël, JJ.A.
• Court: Federal Court of Appeal (Canada)
• Case Date: September 17, 2003
• Jurisdiction: Canada (Federal)
• Citations: (2003), 312 N.R. 176 (FCA);2003 FCA 350

Slobodrian v. MNR (2003), 312 N.R. 176 (FCA)

MLB headnote and full text

[French language version follows English language version]

[La version française vient à la suite de la version anglaise]

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Temp. Cite: [2003] N.R. TBEd. OC.031

Rodolfo Jose Slobodrian (applicant) v. Minister of National Revenue (respondent)

(A-497-01; 2003 FCA 350; 2003 CAF 350)

Indexed As: Slobodrian v. Minister of National Revenue

Federal Court of Appeal

Desjardins, Létourneau and Noël, JJ.A.

September 26, 2003.

Summary:

A taxpayer performed research activities pursuant to a contract between Public Works and a university without receiving remuner­ation. The professor claimed donation tax credits in relation to the services which he considered to be gifts. The Minister of National Revenue disallowed the credits. The taxpayer appealed.

The Tax Court of Canada dismissed the appeal. The taxpayer appealed.

The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.

Income Tax - Topic 2632

Deductions in computing income - Chari­table donations - Gift - What constitutes - A taxpayer gratuitously performed research activities pursuant to a contract between Public Works and a university - The pro­fessor claimed donation tax credits in relation to the services which he con­sidered to be gifts - The credits were disal­lowed - The taxpayer appealed, asserting, inter alia, that the Income Tax Act did not explicitly restrict the subject matter of a gift to "property" - The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal - A gift for income tax purposes had to involve the transfer of what was known in law as property - The mere supply of services without compensation involved no property and therefore could not form the subject matter of a gift - This was to be contrasted with remunerated services which once per­formed gave rise to rights capable of own­ership and which could in turn form the subject matter of a gift - An example of this was a remunerated worker who as­signed gratuitously his right to the re­mun­eration which he had earned - See para­graphs 10 to 15.

Income Tax - Topic 2632

Deductions in computing income - Chari­table donations - Gift - What constitutes - A taxpayer gratuitously performed research activities pursuant to a contract between Public Works on behalf of the Space Agency and a university - The pro­fessor claimed donation tax credits in relation to the services which he con­sidered to be gifts - The credits were disal­lowed - The taxpayer appealed, asserting, inter alia, that his efforts had resulted in the Space Agency becoming the proprietor of valu­able research - That research consti­tuted intellectual property which could form the subject matter of a gift - The Federal Court of Appeal stated that it was unnecessary to decide the argument where the agreement under which the research was conducted specifically provided that any such prop­erty would vest in Canada and not the university or any member of the research team - Accordingly, the taxpayer could not have become the owner of any intellectual property - See para­graphs 16 and 17.

Income Tax - Topic 2633

Deductions in computing income - Chari­table donations - Gift - Valuation - A taxpayer gratuitously performed research activities pursuant to a contract between Public Works and a university - The pro­fessor claimed donation tax credits in relation to the services which he con­sidered to be gifts - The credits were disal­lowed - In affirming the decision, a Tax Court judge held that the receipts sub­mitted by the taxpayer attesting to the value of his purported gift did not meet the requirements of s. 3510 of the Income Tax Act Regulations - The Federal Court of Appeal affirmed the decision - Quite aside from the fact that the receipts attested to the value of something other than property, they did not reflect the registration number of the issuer, state that they were issued for tax purposes or certify that the signator was duly authorized to issue such receipts as required by s. 3510 - According to s. 188.1(2) of the Income Tax Act, a chari­table gift could not be recognized unless it was proven by a receipt reflecting this information - See paragraph 18.

Cases Noticed:

Littler v. Minister of National Revenue (1978), 20 N.R. 541; 78 D.T.C. 6179 (F.C.A.), refd to. [para. 11].

Will-Kare Paving & Contracting Ltd. v. Minister of National Revenue, [2000] 1 S.C.R. 915; 255 N.R. 208, refd to. [para. 11].

Manrell v. Minister of National Revenue (2003), 302 N.R. 91 (F.C.A.), refd to. [para. 13].

Rapistan Canada Ltd. v. Minister of National Revenue (1974), 4 N.R. 409 (F.C.A.), refd to. [para. 14].

Statutes Noticed:

Income Tax Act, R.S.C. 1985 (5th Supp.), c. 1, sect. 110.1 [para. 10]; 248(1) [para. 12].

Counsel:

Rodolfo Jose Slobodrian, on his own behalf;

Bernard Fontaine, for the respondent.

Solicitors of Record:

Morris Rosenberg, Deputy Attorney Gen­eral of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, for the respondent.

This appeal was heard at Quebec, Quebec, on September 17, 2003, by Desjardins, Létourneau and Noël, JJ.A., of the Federal Court of Appeal. Noël, J.A., delivered the following judgment for the court on Septem­ber 26, 2003.