CRA makes tenant pay landlord’s taxes
Regular reader jeather pointed out to me this hair‑raising Globe & Mail story about a Montreal tenant whom the CRA is dunning for years of unpaid taxes by his non‑resident landlord – perfectly legally, too.
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Kate
Reply
jeather 10:53 on 2024-04-15 Permalink
I will point out that this is a residential lease, but the best bet is that the CRA went after him because he had his company pay instead of paying individually; I saw somewhere this is the only such example of a tenant owing money for this. However, doing something illegal assuming that the CRA won’t actually go after you is a fool’s errand. The judgement is available here.
Kate 11:09 on 2024-04-15 Permalink
What do you think is the moral of this story? Make sure your landlord is domiciled in Canada?
And was the tenant doing something illegal?
jeather 11:21 on 2024-04-15 Permalink
I do not in any way see how you can ensure that your landlord is domiciled in Canada unless you are in the same building as them. I have no idea what the moral is. The tax code is complicated and can fuck you over for something you couldn’t reasonably expect to know?
H. John 17:17 on 2024-04-15 Permalink
I think jeather is right. CRA went after his company. He had his company pay his rent because he said it was easier for bookkeeping (he owns a gym). His company was audited by the CRA. It was the CRA auditor who could not find proof of residence (not domicile) for the landlord.
@Kate & jeather, if you confirmed your landlord was domiciled in Canada that would prove nothing. Most people make the same mistake, domicile and residence are not the same thing; and, residence means different things depending on the legislation concerned (e.g. residence for tax purposes may not be the exact same definition as residence for RAMQ).
And the reason that if you google this case, you’ll get a few dozen hits from different law firms and media outlets commenting on it, is simply because the different parts that make up this case are so extremely rare that it’s newsworthy
@jeather “I do not in any way see how you can ensure that your landlord is domiciled in Canada unless you are in the same building as them.” The first clue might have been the Italian phone number, the fact that she (the new landlord) signed the document in Italy, and her email ended in “.it”. Yes, I know she also had Montreal area co-ordinates, but at that point you ask her for a form provided by the CRA showing her “resident” status.
Kate 21:07 on 2024-04-15 Permalink
Once again, thank you, H. John.