In Bank of Nova Scotia v. Canada (Fed CA, 2024) the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed a tax appeal, here from "a decision of the Tax Court of Canada which confirmed a reassessment imposing interest for late payment of tax".
Here the court considers statutory interpretation unique to the tax legislation context:
(a) Lack of specificity
[39] I would mention first a contextual factor that is strongly against the Bank’s position. It is well established that Parliament seeks certainty, predictability and fairness in tax legislation (Canada Trustco at para. 61). If Parliament did not intend to impose interest when a loss carryback is claimed as a result of an audit adjustment, it is likely that Parliament would have provided for this with explicit language. But the language used is not explicit and does not reference audit adjustments at all. The Bank’s position is problematic for this reason.
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