Taxpayers reasonably expect that, if CRA accepted a filing position in prior years, it will continue to apply the same approach for later tax years. Here, the Federal Court of Appeal confirmed that CRA can change its mind:
[13] It is well-established law that the doctrine of estoppel cannot be invoked to preclude the exercise of a statutory duty (Ludmer v. Canada, [1995] 2 F.C. 3; 182 N.R. 125, 1994 CarswellNat 1644, at paragraphs 2, 9 and 17 [Ludmer]). As was re-stated in Ludmer, “a concession made in one year in the absence of any statutory provisions to the contrary, does not preclude the Minister from taking a different view in a later year. An assessment is conclusive as between the parties only in relation to the assessment for the year [in] which it was made.” (Ludmer at paragraph 12).