Apparently you can beat the taxman, sometimes.
In a case heard in Vancouver, a Vernon handyman was granted a judicial review of the Canada Revenue Agency's refusal to pay him the Canada Recovery Benefit during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Scott Bishop was denied CERB payments because he could not demonstrate a total income of at least $5,000 in 2019 or in the 12 months preceding his application.
However, Madam Justice Lobat Sadrehashemi found the CRA benefits compliance officer was unreasonable in their evaluation.
Sadrehashemi wrote in her May 30 ruling that the officer ignored Bishop's attempts to provide further financial documentation.
"The officer did not evaluate Bishop's affidavit, which provided an explanation for his inability to produce other financial documentation. Repeatedly, Bishop explained to the CRA his difficulty in providing further documentation and set out the nature of the work he did and the steps he took to obtain documentation to verify this work," the judge wrote.
Bishop worked as a self-employed contractor for a single Vernon client doing renovations over the span of six months.
Bishop charged her $20 an hour and was paid in cash at the end of each day under their verbal agreement.
In total, he says he was paid $6,200.
Since October 2019, Bishop has not heard from the client despite attempting to obtain a receipt for the payment on several occasions, including calls, knocking on the door, and leaving notes at the home.
He applied for the benefit for four two-week periods from Sept. 27 to Nov. 21, 2020, providing his 2019 tax return and notice of assessment, where he had reported $6,200 in income for 2019.
After the initial refusal, Bishop requested a review and was denied again, with the CRA saying he did not establish proof of payment for the work.
Sadrehashemi ruled the CRA had an obligation to address Bishop's sworn declaration and "did not evaluate it."
"This was unreasonable and requires that the matter be redetermined by a different officer."
Sadrehashemi granted the review and ordered the CRA to pay court costs.
