In a recent decision Mariano v. The Queen, the Tax Court of Canada (TCC) awarded a very large cost award in favour of CRA (who was the respondent in the matter) and against GLGI, the promoter, and some of its investors.  The Court ordered costs of $491,136.95 minus the costs of two expert witnesses which will have to be determined.  The TCC also noted with respect to CRA “The Respondent was totally successful in the trials of the above matters involving a charitable donation scheme which spanned over 25 days of hearings including one week of oral argument supplemented by detailed written argument given by both sides.”  Please note they did not say largely successful – they said “totally” successful.   It is quite clear that the TCC after many many years is getting impatient with listening to arguments in favour of what the CRA used to call “abusive charity gifting tax schemes”.