Serious charges of tax evasion against the owner of Tyendinaga Propane on the Tyendinaga Territory have been stayed in the Ontario Court of Appeal.
And a federal appeal of the decision to stay the charges was dropped.
Keith Maracle, 75, was charged by the Canada Revenue Agency for not collecting GST/HST from sales made to customers living off the Territory in the years spanning 2008 to 2013.
The CRA maintained Maracle, a status Indian, owed $440,000 in taxes on $5.7 million in sales.
In its decision the judge wrote that Maracle honestly believed he did not have to collect taxes as he was following a Community Law made by the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte Band Council that businesses did not have to collect them.
In 2019 Maracle agreed to begin collecting GST/HST. When charges are stayed no other legal proceedings can be launched on the charges involved.
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