Appeal No. AP-2002-104
23 September 2003
Appeal No. AP-2002-104
This is an appeal, pursuant to section 81.19 of the Excise Tax Act, from a decision of the Minister of National Revenue (the Minister) dated March 7, 2002, whereby Praxair Canada Inc. (Praxair) alleges that the Minister refused to refund federal sales tax attributable to co-operative advertising allowances, which it claims should have been deducted from the sale price of the goods sold to its customers. The Minister alleges that the issue was not raised in Determination No. TOR-57201 but, rather, was the subject matter of Determination No. TOR-60848 dated March 16, 1988, and, therefore, that Praxair is statute-barred from filing this appeal. The parties requested a preliminary ruling by the Tribunal on this issue, which was considered in accordance with sections 6 and 23.1 of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Rules.
HELD:
The appeal is dismissed. The issue that Praxair raises in this appeal is not properly before the Tribunal. The Excise Tax Act is very precise in setting out the steps to be followed by the taxpayer when appealing from a decision. The right of appeal to the Tribunal is available only when, following a notice of determination, a notice of objection is served. Praxair did not object to Determination No. TOR-60848 that decided that certain co-operative advertising allowances were not deductible from the sale price of goods, which is the issue that Praxair is now seeking to have examined by the Tribunal. Parliament has not given the Tribunal the power to remedy this deficiency.
This document is available on the CITT web site, at
http://www.citt-tcce.gc.ca/appeals/decision/ap2c104_e.asp