Tax Court of Canada provides clarity on timing of allocating costs between different taxation years
In Yorkwest Plumbing Supply Inc. v. The Queen, 2020 TCC 122, due to a switch in the appellant’s accounting system the cost of inventory was not properly allocated against the cost of sales. The appellant attempted to overstate its cost of goods sold in a subsequent taxation year to make up for the difference in prior years. The Tax Court disallowed the taxpayer from doing so. As stated by the Tax Court judge: “[A]n unintentional understatement of the cost of goods sold in its 2010 and 2011 taxation years cannot be remedied by an intentional overstatement of the costs of goods sold in its 2012 taxation year. The cost of inventory is recognized in the taxation year in which it is sold … In tax law, timing matters.”