Air Travellers Security Charge Act (S.C. 2002, c. 9, s. 5)

Marginal note:Waiving or cancelling penalties

• 55 (1) The Minister may, on or before the day that is 10 calendar years after the end of a reporting period of a person, or on application by the person on or before that day, waive or cancel any penalty payable by the person under section 53 in respect of the reporting period.

• Marginal note:Interest where amount waived or cancelled

  (2) If a person has paid an amount of penalty and the Minister waives or cancels that amount under subsection (1), the Minister shall pay interest on the amount paid by the person beginning on the day that is 30 days after the day on which the Minister received a request in a manner satisfactory to the Minister to apply that subsection and ending on the day on which the amount is refunded to the person.

Marginal note:Failure to answer demand

56 Every person who fails to file a return as and when required under a demand issued under section 26 is liable to a penalty of $250.

Marginal note:Failure to provide information

57 Every person who fails to provide any information or record as and when required under this Act is liable to a penalty of $100 for every failure unless, in the case of information required in respect of another person, a reasonable effort was made by the person to obtain the information.

Marginal note:False statements or omissions

58 Every person who knowingly, or under circumstances amounting to gross negligence, makes or participates in, assents to or acquiesces in the making of a false statement or omission in a return, application, form, certificate, statement, invoice or answer (each of which is in this section referred to as a “return”) is liable to a penalty of the greater of $250 and 25% of the total of

• (a) if the false statement or omission is relevant to the determination of an amount payable under this Act by the person, the amount, if any, by which

  • (i) the amount payable

  exceeds

  • (ii) the amount that would be payable by the person if the amount payable were determined on the basis of the information provided in the return, and

• (b) if the false statement or omission is relevant to the determination of a refund or any other payment that may be obtained under this Act, the amount, if any, by which

  • (i) the amount that would be the refund or other payment payable to the person if the refund or other payment were determined on the basis of the information provided in the return

  exceeds

  • (ii) the amount of the refund or other payment payable to the person.

Penalty Imposition

Marginal note:Notice of imposed penalty

59 A penalty that a person is liable to pay under any of sections 56 to 58 may be imposed by the Minister by a notice served personally or by registered or certified mail to the person’s latest known address, which notice is deemed to be an assessment.

Marginal note:When penalty becomes payable

60 The amount of penalty imposed on a person under section 59 is payable by the person to the Receiver General at the time it is imposed.

Offences and Punishment

Marginal note:Offence for failure to file return or to comply with demand or order

• 61 (1) Every person who fails to file or make a return as and when required under this Act or who fails to comply with an obligation under subsection 37(5) or (8) or section 38 or an order made under section 66 is guilty of an offence and, in addition to any penalty otherwise provided, is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $25,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or to both.

• Marginal note:Saving

  (2) A person who is convicted of an offence under subsection (1) for a failure to comply with a provision of this Act is not liable to pay a penalty imposed under section 53, 56 or 57 for the same failure, unless a notice of assessment for the penalty was issued before the information or complaint giving rise to the conviction was laid or made.

Marginal note:Offences for false or deceptive statement

• 62 (1) Every person commits an offence who

  • (a) makes, or participates in, assents to or acquiesces in the making of, a false or deceptive statement in a return, application, certificate, record or answer filed or made as required under this Act;

  • (b) for the purposes of evading payment of any amount payable under this Act, or obtaining a refund to which the person is not entitled under this Act,

    • (i) destroys, alters, mutilates, conceals or otherwise disposes of any records of a person, or

    • (ii) makes, or assents to or acquiesces in the making of, a false or deceptive entry, or omits, or assents to or acquiesces in the omission, to enter a material particular in the records of a person;

  • (c) wilfully, in any manner, evades or attempts to evade compliance with this Act or payment of an amount payable under this Act;

  • (d) wilfully, in any manner, obtains or attempts to obtain a refund to which the person is not entitled under this Act; or

  • (e) conspires with any person to commit an offence described in any of paragraphs (a) to (d).

• Marginal note:Punishment

  (2) Every person who commits an offence under subsection (1) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and, in addition to any penalty otherwise provided, is liable to

  • (a) a fine of not less than 50%, and not more than 200%, of the amount payable that was sought to be evaded, or of the refund sought, or, if the amount that was sought to be evaded cannot be ascertained, a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $25,000;

  • (b) imprisonment for a term not exceeding 18 months; or

  • (c) both a fine referred to in paragraph (a) and imprisonment for a term not exceeding 18 months.

• Marginal note:Penalty on conviction

  (3) A person who is convicted of an offence under subsection (1) is not liable to pay a penalty imposed under any of sections 53 and 56 to 58 for the same evasion or attempt unless a notice of assessment for that penalty was issued before the information or complaint giving rise to the conviction was laid or made.

• Marginal note:Stay of appeal

  (4) If, in any appeal under this Act, substantially the same facts are at issue as those that are at issue in a prosecution under this section, the Minister may file a stay of proceedings with the Tax Court and, on doing so, the proceedings before the Tax Court are stayed pending a final determination of the outcome of the prosecution.

Marginal note:Failure to pay or collect charges

63 Every person who wilfully fails to pay or collect a charge as and when required under this Act is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable, in addition to any penalty or interest otherwise provided, to

• (a) a fine not exceeding the aggregate of $1,000 and an amount equal to 20% of the amount of charge that should have been paid or collected;

• (b) imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months; or

• (c) both a fine referred to in paragraph (a) and imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months.

Marginal note:General offence

64 Every person who fails to comply with any provision of this Act or the regulations made under this Act for which no other offence is specified in this Act is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to a fine not exceeding $1,000.

Marginal note:Defence of due diligence

65 No person shall be convicted of an offence under this Act if the person establishes that they exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of the offence.

Marginal note:Compliance orders

66 If a person is convicted by a court of an offence for a failure to comply with a provision of this Act, the court may make such order as it deems proper in order to enforce compliance with the provision.

Marginal note:Officers of corporations, etc.

67 If a person other than an individual commits an offence under this Act, every officer, director or agent of the person who directed, authorized, assented to, acquiesced in or participated in the commission of the offence is a party to and guilty of the offence and liable on conviction to the punishment provided for the offence, whether or not the person has been prosecuted or convicted.

Marginal note:Power to decrease punishment

68 Despite the Criminal Code or any other law, the court has, in any prosecution or proceeding under this Act, neither the power to impose less than the minimum fine fixed under this Act nor the power to suspend sentence.

Marginal note:Information or complaint

• 69 (1) An information or complaint under this Act may be laid or made by any officer of the Agency, by a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or by any person authorized to do so by the Minister and, if an information or complaint purports to have been laid or made under this Act, it is deemed to have been laid or made by a person so authorized by the Minister and shall not be called in question for lack of authority of the informant or complainant, except by the Minister or a person acting for the Minister or for Her Majesty.

• Marginal note:Two or more offences

  (2) An information or complaint in respect of an offence under this Act may be for one or more offences, and no information, complaint, warrant, conviction or other proceeding in a prosecution under this Act is objectionable or insufficient by reason of the fact that it relates to two or more offences.

• Marginal note:Territorial jurisdiction

  (3) An information or complaint in respect of an offence under this Act may be heard, tried or determined by any court, if the accused is resident, carrying on a commercial activity, found or apprehended or is in custody within the court’s territorial jurisdiction even though the matter of the information or complaint did not arise within that territorial jurisdiction.

• Marginal note:Limitation of prosecutions

  (4) An information or complaint under the provisions of the Criminal Code relating to summary convictions, in respect of an offence under this Act, may be laid or made within two years after the day on which the matter of the information or complaint arose.

Inspections

Marginal note:By whom

• 70 (1) A person authorized by the Minister to do so may, at all reasonable times, for any purpose related to the administration or enforcement of this Act, inspect, audit or examine the records, processes, property or premises of a person in order to determine whether that or any other person is in compliance with this Act.

• Marginal note:Powers of authorized person

  (2) Subject to subsection (3), the authorized person may, at all reasonable times, for any purpose related to the administration or enforcement of this Act

  • (a) enter any place in which the authorized person reasonably believes the person keeps records or carries on any activity to which this Act applies;

  • (b) require any person to give the authorized person all reasonable assistance, to answer all proper questions relating to the administration or enforcement of this Act and

    • (i) to attend with the authorized person at a place designated by the authorized person, or by video-conference or by another form of electronic communication, and to answer the questions orally, and

    • (ii) to answer the questions in writing, in any form specified by the authorized person; and

  • (c) require any person to give the authorized person all reasonable assistance with anything the authorized person is authorized to do under this Act.

• Marginal note:Prior authorization

  (3) If any place referred to in subsection (2) is a dwelling-house, the authorized person may not enter that dwelling-house without the consent of the occupant, except under the authority of a warrant issued under subsection (4).

• Marginal note:Warrant to enter dwelling-house

  (4) A judge may issue a warrant authorizing a person to enter a dwelling-house subject to the conditions specified in the warrant if, on ex parte application by the Minister, a judge is satisfied by information on oath that

  • (a) there are reasonable grounds to believe that the dwelling-house is a place referred to in subsection (2);

  • (b) entry into the dwelling-house is necessary for any purpose related to the administration or enforcement of this Act; and

  • (c) entry into the dwelling-house has been, or there are reasonable grounds to believe that entry will be, refused.

• Marginal note:Orders if entry not authorized

  (5) If the judge is not satisfied that entry into the dwelling-house is necessary for any purpose related to the administration or enforcement of this Act, the judge may, to the extent that access was or may be expected to be refused and that a record or property is or may be expected to be kept in the dwelling-house,

  • (a) order the occupant of the dwelling-house to provide a person with reasonable access to any record or property that is or should be kept in the dwelling-house; and

  • (b) make any other order that is appropriate in the circumstances to carry out the purposes of this Act.

• Definition of dwelling-house

  (6) In this section, dwelling-house means the whole or any part of a building or structure that is kept or occupied as a permanent or temporary residence, and includes

  • (a) a building within the curtilage of a dwelling-house that is connected to it by a doorway or by a covered and enclosed passageway; and

  • (b) a unit that is designed to be mobile and to be used as a permanent or temporary residence and that is being used as such a residence.

Marginal note:Copies of records

71 A person who inspects, audits, examines or is provided a record under section 70 may make, or cause to be made, one or more copies of the record.

Collection

Marginal note:Definitions

• 72 (1) The following definitions apply in this section.

  action

  action means an action to collect a charge debt of a person and includes a proceeding in a court and anything done by the Minister under any of sections 74 to 79. (action)

  charge debt

  charge debt means any amount payable by a person under this Act. (dette fiscale)

  legal representative

  legal representative of a person means a trustee in bankruptcy, an assignee, a liquidator, a curator, a receiver of any kind, a trustee, an heir, an administrator, an executor, a liquidator of a succession, a committee, or any other like person, administering, winding up, controlling or otherwise dealing in a representative or fiduciary capacity with any property, business, commercial activity or estate that belongs or belonged to, or that is or was held for the benefit of, the person or the person’s estate. (représentant légal)

• Marginal note:Debts to Her Majesty

  (1.1) A charge debt is a debt due to Her Majesty and is recoverable as such in the Federal Court or any other court of competent jurisdiction or in any other manner provided under this Act.

• Marginal note:Court proceedings

  (2) The Minister may not commence a proceeding in a court to collect a charge debt of a person in respect of an amount that may be assessed under this Act, unless when the proceeding is commenced the person has been or may be assessed for that amount.

• Marginal note:No actions after limitation period

  (2.1) The Minister may not commence an action to collect a charge debt after the end of the limitation period for the collection of the charge debt.

• Marginal note:Limitation period

  (2.2) The limitation period for the collection of a charge debt of a person

  • (a) begins

    • (i) if a notice of assessment in respect of the charge debt, or a notice referred to in subsection 80(1) in respect of the charge debt, is sent to or served on the person, after March 3, 2004, on the last day on which one of those notices is sent or served,

    • (ii) if no notice referred to in subparagraph (i) in respect of the charge debt was sent or served and the earliest day on which the Minister can commence an action to collect that charge debt is after March 3, 2004, on that earliest day, and

    • (iii) in any other case, on March 4, 2004; and

  • (b) ends, subject to subsection (2.6), on the day that is 10 years after the day on which it begins.

• Marginal note:Limitation period restarted

  (2.3) The limitation period described in subsection (2.2) for the collection of a charge debt of a person restarts (and ends, subject to subsection (2.6), on the day that is 10 years after the day on which it restarts) on any day, before it would otherwise end, on which

  • (a) the person acknowledges the charge debt in accordance with subsection (2.4);

  • (b) the Minister commences an action to collect the charge debt; or

  • (c) the Minister, under subsection 75(8) or 81(4), assesses another person in respect of the charge debt.

• Marginal note:Acknowledgement of charge debts

  (2.4) A person acknowledges a charge debt if the person

  • (a) promises, in writing, to pay the charge debt;

  • (b) makes a written acknowledgement of the charge debt, whether or not a promise to pay can be inferred from the acknowledgement and whether or not it contains a refusal to pay; or

  • (c) makes a payment, including a purported payment by way of a negotiable instrument that is dishonoured, on account of the charge debt.

• Marginal note:Agent or legal representative

  (2.5) For the purposes of this section, an acknowledgement made by a person’s agent or legal representative has the same effect as if it were made by the person.

• Marginal note:Extension of limitation period

  (2.6) In computing the day on which a limitation period ends, there shall be added the number of days on which one or more of the following is the case:

  • (a) the Minister has accepted and holds security in lieu of payment of the charge debt;

  • (b) if the person was resident in Canada on the applicable date described in paragraph (2.2)(a) in respect of the charge debt, the person is nonresident; or

  • (c) an action that the Minister may otherwise take in respect of the charge debt is restricted or not permitted under any provision of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act or of the Farm Debt Mediation Act.

• Marginal note:Assessment before collection

  (3) The Minister may not take any collection action under sections 74 to 79 in respect of any amount payable by a person that may be assessed under this Act, other than interest under section 27, unless the amount has been assessed.

• Marginal note:Interest on judgments

  (4) If a judgment is obtained for any amount payable under this Act, including a certificate registered under section 74, the provisions of this Act by which interest is payable for a failure to pay an amount apply, with any modifications that the circumstances require, to the failure to pay the judgment debt, and the interest is recoverable in like manner as the judgment debt.

• Marginal note:Litigation costs

  (5) If an amount is payable by a person to Her Majesty because of an order, judgment or award of a court in respect of the costs of litigation relating to a matter to which this Act applies, sections 73 to 80 apply to the amount as if it were payable under this Act.