CRA Annual Report to Parliament 2011-2012 (PDF - Agence du ...

Indicator 2010-2011 2011-2012 Change
Income tax disputes
– resolved
61,506 66,655 8.4%
Income tax disputes
– intake
Commodity tax
disputes – resolved
Commodity tax
disputes – intake
CPP/EI disputes –
resolved
CPP/EI disputes –
intake
litigation
If a matter is not resolved to the taxpayer’s satisfaction at
the administrative review level, the taxpayer can appeal to
the Tax Court of Canada. This level of review is referred to
as litigation and is subject to the rules of the Tax Court.
The issues that the Tax Court hears range from the
application of the General Anti-Avoidance Rule, to transfer
pricing issues, to Aboriginal taxation. In certain
circumstances, taxpayers can appeal to the Federal Court
of Appeal and Supreme Court of Canada. Among other
significant court cases, this year the Supreme Court of
Canada upheld the CRA’s position on applying the General
Anti-Avoidance Rule to corporate amalgamations, and it
provided guidance on the scope of tax exemptions under
the Indian Act.
The Federal Court of Appeal confirmed our Minister’s
statutory duty to assess GST under the Excise Tax Act and
resolved the gifting intent that is needed to claim
donation tax credits.
In addition to these judicial developments, the CRA
collaborated with the Department of Justice on cases
before the Supreme Court of Canada involving the
residency of trusts under the Income Tax Act, the legal test
applicable to farming losses under the Act, and the
application of transfer pricing provisions under the Act
and the guidelines of the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development.
ANNUAL REPORT
2011-2012
94,449 79,761 -15.6%
7,613 7,299 -4.1%
7,385 6,754 -8.5%
3,011 2,967 -1.5%
2,873 3,009 4.7%
CANADA REVENUE AGENCY
[taxpayer relief ]
Taxpayer relief provisions allow the CRA to cancel
penalties and interest; accept late-filed, amended, or
revoked income tax elections; and provide income tax
refunds beyond the three-year period normally allowed.
These provisions are intended to help taxpayers who are
not able to meet their tax obligations because of
extraordinary circumstances such as financial hardship,
disasters such as floods or fire, or an error in a CRA
publication.
In 2011-2012, we raised awareness of our taxpayer fairness
instruments by improving our Web site; providing
information to tax intermediaries; and reviewing guides,
pamphlets, and other publications so that information is
clear and consistent for all Canadians.
Taxpayer relief provisions give us some flexibility and
allow us to be more responsive in situations where it
would be unreasonable or unfair to penalize the taxpayer.
The total value of the relief provided to 204,740 taxpayers
amounted to more than $362 million in 2011-2012.