THE CAMPAIGN CONTINUES AT LEROUXED.COM
THANK YOU AGAIN EVERYBODY WHO HAS SUPPORTED THIS FIRST FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN AND/OR MY PHASE II CAMPAIGN!
***** CLICK HERE TO SEE PHASE II CAMPAIGN NOW! *****
WE REACHED 17% OF OUR PHASE II CAMPAIGN AND SECURED A LEGAL TEAM TO GO TO THE BC COURT OF APPEAL AND DEFEND THE DUTY OF CARE FOR ALL TAXPAYERS! THANK YOU AND PLEASE WATCH FOR UPDATES!
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Funds raised ARE helping to support Irvin in his legal battle that will benefit us all.
---- JUSTICE costs money! The campaign attracted the attention of leading law firms, legal resources and tax litigators across the country and this is very exciting! Here's an excerpt from Karen Selick's Our Tax Hero Needs A Lawyer letter citing her discussion with a leading Toronto tax litigator: "many of his clients have suffered financial disaster like Leroux's following an audit by the CRA....If he had been the judge, he said, he would have immediately understood how the large penalties and liens imposed upon Leroux had led to his financial difficulties...."
I posted this video under UPDATES on this page to explain where we are at in the battle - please check it out along with the other UPDATES and COMMENTS!
The duty of care decision is only halfway to holding CRA accountable. The other half is making them pay. We have appealed the decision because it didn't go far enough for me or for Canadian taxpayers. The CRA has cross-appealed because a) they want me to pay their costs and b) they want to challenge the duty of care that was won in my case that now holds CRA accountable to Canadian taxpayers.
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Above is a picture of me, Irvin Leroux, my lawyer and our law student who battled the massive Department of Justice team during a 14 day trial last October 2013. It was a true David v Goliath scene. I have been fighting the taxman (Leroux v Canada Revenue Agency) for 18 years because of a rogue and incorrect audit that started in 1996. Details of how I lost everything can be found here.
Here is a short video introduction of my story
Over the years I have heard hundreds of sickening, heart-breaking and tragic stories about how the all powerful taxman - 55,000 strong - has destroyed families, businesses, and no one can hold them accountable.
As one experienced tax lawyer told me after the decision, "your situation is pretty regular unfortunately; you're dealing with appeals [officers] who have no accountability and you're dealing with auditors who have no accountability." This isn't right in our democracy, in our country of Canada. Everybody knows somebody who knows somebody with a taxman horror story.
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I have done everything possible abiding the system, to fight for what is right. CRA said I owed them a million bucks but they were wrong (the judge said very wrong) and after I took them to the Tax Court of Canada and filed a Fairness Application, CRA owed me $24,000! (which I never saw). After the trial in the Fall, we got the judge's decision on April 30 2014 and I won an incredible victory - the judge said CRA owed me a duty of care and this has now set a precedent for all Canadian taxpayers past, present and future!
Tax lawyers all across the country are jumping for joy...![]()
...but this fight has cost me everything and I still have no restitution.
As one tax lawyer states "all the big firms have written about the duty of care [decision] - it is a very big deal for all of us and all Canadian taxpayers."
This campaign is about full justice and holding CRA fully accountable.
Here is what duty of care means
We're halfway to Justice and Accountability
The duty of care decision is only halfway to holding CRA accountable. The other half is making them pay. We have appealed the decision because it didn't go far enough for me or for Canadian taxpayers.
The CRA has cross-appealed because they want me to pay their costs and in my experience they will challenge the duty of care holding them accountable.
- We need $15,500 to cover the cost of the transcript for the 14 day trial
CHECK - We don't have a choice but to purchase this because it is a rule of the court CHECK
- The transcript is an intimate, accurate invaluable account of what was said by the judge, by the lawyers and all witnesses (the government called eleven of them)
- CHECK - THE WHOLE TRUTH AND JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL
The Impact
JUSTICE costs money! The government has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight me. CRA never let me forget it has unlimited resources to fight me. All funds raised in this campaign will go to pay for the transcript first; if we raise more than this goal, funds will cover other court costs, document costs and legal fees and in the end, this victory will continue to help all Canadians
- I don't want millions of dollars from the government
- I just want back what CRA misfeasance and negligence caused me to lose
- We need legal expertise to help get restitution and damages
- We have already been successful in over ten motions and my case has set the precedent for duty of care by CRA but we need to ensure it stays
This case is making a difference for everyone
18 years is a long time to fight. I have survived motions to dismiss my case, changes in legal counsel and pled with five Ministers of National Revenue who know my story but have done nothing to support justice and accountability.
This battle is for my family, my grandkids, my friends and neighbours and so many other Canadians who have found themselves up against the behemoth agency. .... Unless there is a consequence for actions, there is no deterrent and this is what we need to show CRA. David beat Goliath because David stuck to what he knew best and Goliath didn't adapt.
Systemic change takes time and money - 21 million tax returns were filed last year - this campaign is meaningful for every one of us that filed one! If you are:
- Generation X or Generation Y
- a working baby boomer
- bank lawyers and accountants
- a pensioner
- a nurse
- a teacher
- a small business owner (like I was)
- a big organization
- a student!!
- an auto worker
- a tax lawyer
- a truck driver
- a celebrity
Other Ways You Can Help
If you can't contribute financially, thank you so much for reading this page and we would sure appreciate if you could:
THANK YOU TO ALL SUPPORTERS, FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND EVERYONE WHO HAS HELPED ME ALONG THE WAY DOWN THIS LONG ROAD TO JUSTICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY. ONE MORE ROUND TO GO!
