Temitope Sennaike, of Oakville, Ont. claimed $15,938 in net losses on his 2019 and 2020 tax returns, saying he spent up to 20 hours a week selling shampoo, body wash, and vitamins on top of his full-time job. He told the court he priced products with a 5% to 15% “premium” and personally delivered them for cash.Despite his efforts, he made just $8,706 from about 70 sales to fewer than 40 customers across the two years. Meanwhile, Sennaike poured time and money into Amway’s leadership training programs and workshops, along with a stack of self-improvement books like Think And Grow Rich and An Enemy Called Average..Tax Court Justice Ted Cook ruled the venture was not conducted “in a sufficiently commercial manner” to qualify as a business. “It is clear from his testimony and evidence that he wanted to develop as an entrepreneur and businessperson in the broad sense and that Amway was his vehicle for doing so,” Cook wrote, concluding the activities were as much about self-help as sales.The Canada Revenue Agency denied the deductions, and the court agreed, saying the expenses amounted to personal development rather than legitimate business losses.
