Section 317 — Excise Tax Act: Garnishment

If the Minister has knowledge or suspects that a particular person is, or will be within one year, liable to make a payment to another person who is liable to pay or remit an amount under this Part (in this subsection and subsections (2), (3), (6) and (11) referred to as the “tax debtor”), the Minister may, by notice in writing, require the particular person to pay without delay, if the moneys are payable immediately, and in any other case as and when the moneys become payable, the moneys otherwise payable to the tax debtor in whole or in part to the Receiver General on account of the tax debtor’s liability under this Part. Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), where the Minister has knowledge or suspects that within ninety days a bank, credit union, trust company or other similar person (in this section referred to as the “institution”) will loan or advance moneys to, or make a payment on behalf of, or make a payment in respect of a negotiable instrument issued by, a tax debtor who is indebted to the institution and who has granted security in respect of the indebtedness, or a person, other than an institution, will loan or advance moneys to, or make a payment on behalf of, a tax debtor who the Minister knows or suspects is employed by, or is engaged in providing services or property to, that person or was or will be, within ninety days, so employed or engaged, or where that person is a corporation, is not dealing at arm’s length with that person, the Minister may, by notice in writing, require the institution or person, as the case may be, to pay in whole or in part to the Receiver General on account of the tax debtor’s liability under this Part the moneys that would otherwise be so loaned, advanced or paid, and any moneys so paid to the Receiver General are deemed to have been loaned, advanced or paid, as the case may be, to the tax debtor. Despite any other provision of this Part, any other enactment of Canada other than the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act , any enactment of a province or any law, if the Minister has knowledge or suspects that a particular person is, or will become within one year, liable to make a payment to a tax debtor, or to a secured creditor who has a right to receive the payment that, but for a security interest in favour of the secured creditor, would be payable to the tax debtor, the Minister may, by notice in writing, require the particular person to pay without delay, if the moneys are payable immediately, and in any other case as and when the moneys become payable, the moneys otherwise payable to the tax debtor or the secured creditor in whole or in part to the Receiver General on account of the tax debtor’s liability under this Part, and on receipt of that notice by the particular person, the amount of those moneys that is so required to be paid to the Receiver General shall, despite any security interest in those moneys, become the property of Her Majesty in right of Canada to the extent of that liability as assessed by the Minister and shall be paid to the Receiver General in priority to any such security interest. [Repealed, 2000, c. 30, s. 95] A receipt issued by the Minister for moneys paid as required under this section is a good and sufficient discharge of the original liability to the extent of the payment. If the Minister has, under this section, required a person to pay to the Receiver General on account of the liability under this Part of a tax debtor moneys otherwise payable by the person to the tax debtor as interest, rent, remuneration, a dividend, an annuity or other periodic payment, the requirement applies to all such payments to be made by the person to the tax debtor until the liability under this Part is satisfied and operates to require payments to the Receiver General out of each such payment of such amount as is stipulated by the Minister in a notice in writing. Every person who fails to comply with a requirement under subsection (1), (3) or (6) is liable to pay to Her Majesty in right of Canada an amount equal to the amount that the person was required under subsection (1), (3) or (6), as the case may be, to pay to the Receiver General. Every institution or person that fails to comply with a requirement under subsection (2) with respect to moneys to be loaned, advanced or paid is liable to pay to Her Majesty in right of Canada an amount equal to the lesser of the aggregate of moneys so loaned, advanced or paid, and the amount that the institution or person was required under that subsection to pay to the Receiver General. The Minister may assess any person for any amount payable under this section by the person to the Receiver General and, where the Minister sends a notice of assessment, sections 296 to 311 apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require. An assessment of an amount payable under this section by a person to the Receiver General shall not be made more than four years after the notice from the Minister requiring the payment was received by the person. If an amount that would otherwise have been payable to or on behalf of a tax debtor is paid by a person to the Receiver General pursuant to a notice from the Minister issued under this section or pursuant to an assessment under subsection (9), the person is deemed, for all purposes, to have paid the amount to or on behalf of the tax debtor. Provisions of this Part that provide that a person who has been required to do so by the Minister must pay to the Receiver General an amount that would otherwise be lent, advanced or paid to a particular person who is liable to make a payment under this Part, or to that particular person’s secured creditor, apply to Her Majesty in right of a province.