The Canadian Taxpayer Bill of Rights is a set of 15 rights
that you have when dealing with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). These
rights are:
You have the right to receive entitlements and to pay
no more and no less than what is required by law.
You have the right to service in both official
languages.
You have the right to privacy and confidentiality.
You have the right to a formal review and a subsequent
appeal.
You have the right to be treated professionally,
courteously, and fairly.
You have the right to complete, accurate, clear and
timely information.
You have the right, as an individual, not to pay income
tax amounts in dispute before you have had an impartial review. (see
note)
You have the right to have the law applied
consistently.
You have the right to lodge a service complaint and to
be provided with an explanation of our findings.
You have the right to have the costs of compliance
taken into account when administering tax legislation.
You have the right to expect us to be accountable.
You have the right to relief from penalties and
interest under tax legislation because of extraordinary circumstances.
You have the right to expect us to publish our service
standards and report annually.
You have the right to expect us to warn you about
questionable tax schemes in a timely manner.
You have the right to be represented by a person of
your choice.
Note regarding right #7: Interest will accrue, and
must be paid if the amount in dispute is found to be owing by the taxpayer.
Service rights above
are in blue.
Taxpayers' Ombudsman
The Taxpayers' Ombudsman is responsible for ensuring that
the CRA respects the service rights outlined in the Taxpayer
Bill of Rights - these rights are numbers 5, 6, 9 to 11, and 13 to 15
above.
The Office of the Taxpayers' Ombudsman provides
independent and impartial reviews of complaints about how the CRA serves and
treats taxpayers, and addresses systemic problems that affect many
taxpayers.
As a result of intervention by the Taxpayers' Ombudsman,
the CRA has
issued apologies;
released bank accounts they had seized;
cancelled penalties and interest they were charging;
reviewed some of its internal policies and
procedures; and
in some instances, ended collection activities.
The Taxpayers' Ombudsman can review the following
service-related complaints about the CRA:
mistakes;
undue delays;
poor or misleading information; or
staff behaviour.
The Ombudsman cannot review complaints that
are not service-related, or complaints that do not fall within their
mandate, such as:
complaints relating tax policy or program
legislation;
matters that are before the courts;
complaints that other statutory bodies would deal
with, such as Official Languages.
The Taxpayers' Ombudsman also does not direct the CRA to
take action.
If you do not agree with an assessment or a determination
made by the CRA, see the CRA information on resolving
disputes.
Before contacting the Taxpayers' Ombudsman, you should
give the CRA the opportunity to resolve your complaint, by following these
steps:
Try to resolve the issue with the CRA employee you
have been dealing with (or phone the number you've been given).
If you are not satisfied, talk to the employee's
supervisor.
If you are still not satisfied with the handling of
your service-related complaint, contact the Office
of the Taxpayer's Ombudsman. There are no costs associated with
filing a complaint or for any service provided by the Taxpayers'
Ombudsman.
The information on this site is not intended to be a
substitute for professional advice. Each person's situation differs, and
a professional advisor can assist you in using the information on this web
site to your best advantage.
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