Individuals Must Pay Income Tax, Judge Rules

(From the Vancouver Province, September 2000)

OTTAWA - This may not seem like news, but Canadians must pay income tax.

An Ontario Superior Court judge has disallowed an argument by a retired Ottawa school teacher that he is exempt from the Income Tax Act.

Justice Gordon Sedgewick dismissed the case and ordered Thomas-Joseph: Kennedy to pay $500 in legal costs to the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency.

Kennedy argued that the Income Tax Act applies only to corporations, not to individuals, and that paying income tax is voluntary.

His arguments paralleled those put forth by anti-tax campaigners who claim to know of lawful ways for individuals to exempt themselves from income tax. The techniques are typically disclosed in weekend seminars costing several hundred dollars.

Ruling on Kennedy's arguments that the law's definition of "person" does not include individuals, the judge said: "I find that a "person" as defined in Income Tax Act includes both a natural and artificial person. It follows that the applicant is a "person" and a "taxpayer."

On the argument that taxes are voluntary and the government cannot enforce tax laws, the judge found: "There is no support in the common law for the extremely broad proposition that all taxes are voluntary."

A British Columbia based organization, the Canadian De-Tax Group, claims paying taxes is voluntary because the system relies on the principle of "voluntary compliance." The agency says this phrase merely means all Canadians are responsible for calculating and remitting their taxes.

Responding to the group's claim to have "a document so powerful, when shown to Revenue Canada agents, they are stopped in their tracks!" a representative for the agency said mildly last year: "Employees of this department are not so easily stopped in their tracks."

(Canadian Press)