On February 1, I will be speaking to the CRA practitioner’s group at the Royal Botanical Gardens about “Tax Cases of Interest”. I have written here about all of the cases on which I will present. The following table lists the cases together with some notes on their current status:
Anchor Pointe
The CRA’s Appeals branch, according to P148 (“Resolving Your Dispute: Objection and Appeal Rights Under the Income Tax Act”), exists “to resolve disputes arising from decisions made under legislation administered by the [CRA] by conducting fair and impartial reviews.” In fact, Appeals sometimes ends up acting as if the objection process were a second chance to audit the taxpayer: sometimes officers of the branch appear to spend more time trying to repair deficiencies in the CRA’s case against the taxpayer than they do considering the taxpayer’s submissions. When this happens, is relief available to the taxpayer?
Audits and Objections
I have added a new permanent article to the site on audits and objections. A link to the new article can also be found in our sidebar. The article is a sort of prequel to my article on Tax Court…
Fees, audits, objections and appeals
When can a taxpayer deduct fees paid to contest an assessment or reassessment? As is usual in tax matters, the answer is neither simple nor obvious.
Cautionary Tale
Rajah v. The Queen, 2005 TCC 637 is not a case that breaks new ground, legally, but it serves as a useful reminder — expressed with the usual clarity and concision that one finds in Mr Justice Bonner’s decisions — that (1) the key question in any dispute about an assessment of tax is whether it is too high; (2) the taxpayer bears the onus of proving that the assessment is too high; and (3) the taxpayer cannot rely on information (supposedly) obtained from the CRA, especially if it is obtained from a nameless agent contacted through the CRA’s 800 number.
CRA Obligations to Disclose Audit Files
In Scott Slipp Nissan Ltd. v. Canada (Attorney General), 2005 FC 1477, the Federal Court held that section 295 of the Excise Tax Act did not authorize the Minister to refuse to disclose portions of an audit report merely because…
Arguing with the CRA While the Clock Ticks
You file an income tax return for your client, and later the CRA issues an assessment or a reassessment that does not agree with the return as filed. Your natural instinct is to try to solve the problem by discussing it with the auditor or the person who issued the assessment. The communication is quicker and more direct. The person is already familiar with the issue in dispute. Remember, however, that while you are dealing with this person the clock is ticking away and your time for filing an objection is running out.
The Perils of Large Corporation Appeals
When drafting a notice of objection for a large corporation, it is essential to ensure that you cover all of the issues in dispute between your client and the CRA. If you fail to cover all of the issues, your client’s ability to contest them at the Tax Court could be curtailed. Newmont Canada Limited v. The Queen, 2005 TCC 143, is a harsh reminder of this possibility.