Tom Woodford, seen in a 1982 interview, was a fixture on the St. John's business scene for decades. (CBC)

A collapsed St. John's auto dealership and its owner have been charged with numerous counts of tax evasion, court records show.

The Canada Revenue Agency filed 31 separate counts of breaching the Excise Tax Act against both Tom Woodford Ltd. and owner Tom Woodford himself.

The charges involve alleged incidents between July 2004 and March 2007, according to a sworn information presented to provincial court in St. John's.

Tom Woodford Ltd. was pushed into receivership last week, with the flagship Chrysler dealership on Kenmount Road locking its doors last Friday afternoon. Earlier, vehicles had been pulled from a related Mercedes-Benz dealership on Topsail Road.

The Canada Revenue Agency alleges that Woodford and his company were receiving goods and services tax rebates to which they were not entitled.

It is unlikely that Woodford, 77, himself will face charges in court.

Tom Woodford Ltd.'s flagship dealership shut down last Friday. (CBC)

Earlier this month, a St. John's court appointed his son, Andrew Woodford, as his legal guardian. In an affidavit signed Jan. 13, Dr. Alan E. Goodridge, a St. John's neurologist, said Woodford is suffering from "a very rapidly progressive cognitive impairment," and that Woodford at that point had "a moderate to severe dementia."

Woodford is living at Chancellor Park, a private St. John's nursing home.

In separate court actions, both Chrysler Canada and the federal government are claiming combined debts totalling almost $19 million. Much of the Chrysler debt relates to interest on unsold inventory.

The receivers head back to a St. John's courtroom in early February to argue whether Tom Woodford Ltd. should be pushed into bankruptcy.

The tax evasion case is expected to be called in provincial court later in February.

In a filing with Newfoundland Supreme Court, Andrew Woodford said his father's estate is worth $850,000.