B.C. couple who ran bogus anti-tax school lose CRA assessment appeal

By Canadian Press on November 6, 2025.

VANCOUVER — A B.C. couple who ran educational seminars promoting the bogus notion that people don’t have to pay taxes have lost their appeal against tax bills on $1.4 million in revenue from the scheme.

The Federal Court of Appeal in Vancouver ruled this week that Russell Porisky and Elaine Gould’s appeal of the tax assessments on revenue generated between 2004 and 2008 had “no merit,” after the Tax Court of Canada shot them down last year.

Porisky and Gould were convicted of tax evasion in 2016, years after they ran educational seminars under the banner of Paradigm Education Group, which promoted ways to avoid taxation that they believed was a form of slavery.

The appeal court ruling says the couple held seminars, sold tickets, wrote books and training materials, generating $1.4 million over five years while reporting no income and paying no tax.

The ruling says Porisky argued that there was no “subjective intention to earn a profit” through their activities and didn’t require them to pay taxes because it was a personal endeavour.

The ruling says those views have been “consistently” rejected by the court, and the appeal had no merit, dismissing the case years after the couple were convicted of tax evasion and sent to prison.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2025.

The Canadian Press