In Ironside v. The Queen (2015 TCC 116),
the Tax Court allowed the Crown's Rule 58 motion for a
determination of a question of law before the hearing, namely
whether the taxpayer was estopped from litigating an issue that had
been adjudicated in an earlier Tax Court decision.
In the prior case (Ironside v. The Queen (2013 TCC
339)), the taxpayer had incurred legal and professional fees to
defend himself against allegations of committing improper
disclosures after being charged in June 2001 by the Alberta
Securities Commission. The taxpayer sought to deduct such fees in
the 2003 and 2004 tax years.
The Tax Court concluded that the taxpayer's legal and
professional fees had not been incurred to gain or produce income
from his chartered accounting business, rather such expenses were
personal in nature and were incurred to protect his reputation in
the oil and gas industry. The Tax Court dismissed the
taxpayer's appeal.
