Understanding the Taxpayer Bill of Rights Part 1

In my next blogs I will help you understand your basic rights as a taxpayer.  Many people do not even know the Taxpayer Bill of Rights even exists in Canada, never mind read it.  So here it is (please click on the link below):

Taxpayer Bill of Rights

1. You have the right to receive entitlements and to pay no more and no less than what is required by law:

This means that you can take advantage of all tax credits, tax deductions and options available to you for saving taxes.  You can do everything within the guidelines to save tax, and yes there are a ton available.

2. You have the right to service in both official Languages:

This is simple, you can have service from CRA in either or both English and French.

3. You have the right to privacy and confidentiality:

Unfortunately this is a tough one as you don’t always know when they are breaking your confidentiality or privacy.  In the case that you do find them breaking this rule, you must immediately write to the Tax Payer’s Ombudsmen (http://www.taxpayersrights.gc.ca/)

4. You have the right to a formal review and a subsequent appeal:

This means you can object and have a formal review of your case.  If they disagree with your claim or reassess you and you don’t agree with it, you need to object.  You may want to call for any clarification before you file the Objection.  A Notice of Objection can be filed within 90 days of an assessment or Reassessment that you don’t agree with.  If after the initial review is done and you still don’t agree with their decision, you can appeal further to the tax court and even on to higher courts!

5. You have the right to be treated professionally, courteously, and fairly:

Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t!  If you are not being treated in a professional, courteous and fair manner then you can go to their superior for a complaint.  If the complaint is not resolved at that level then go directly to the Tax Payer’s Ombudsman.  Remember it is best not to speak to CRA directly, but to do everything with them in writing.  If you do have to speak to them, always get their full name and badge/bond number!

We will discuss more of your rights on my next blog!

Taxpayers’ Ombudsman

If you feel that your service rights have been neglected while dealing with the CRA, you can always contact the Taxpayer's Ombudsman and make a complaint. It is the Taxpayers' Ombudsman's responsibility to ensure that the taxpayers' rights are respected by the CRA at all times. The service rights outlined in the Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights include numbers 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14 and 15. Please check my previous blog entry for the complete Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights.

The Taxpayers’ Ombudsman provides independent and impartial reviews of complaints about how the CRA serves and treats taxpayers, and addresses systematic problems that affect many taxpayers.

Mistakes, undue delays, misleading information and staff behavior on the part of the CRA fall under the service-related complaints that the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman takes care of.

Through the assistance of the ombudsman, the CRA has issued apologies, released bank accounts they had seized, cancelled penalties and interests they were charging, reviewed some of its policies and procedures and in some cases, ended collection activities.

Please note that the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman’s responsibilities does not include complaints that are not service related such as those related to tax policy, program legislation, matters that are before the courts and matters that other statutory bodies would deal with. In addition to this, the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman does not direct the CRA to take action.

Before contacting the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman, you should allow the CRA to resolve your complaint within a reasonable amount of time by trying to resolve your issue with the CRA employee you have been dealing with or with the employee’s supervisor. If you are not satisfied with the way they dealt with you, you may file a formal complaint with the CRA by submitting a completed Form RC193, Service-Related Complaint. If you are still not satisfied with the way the CRA dealt with your complaint, you may contact the Office of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman. There are no costs with filing a complaint or for any service rendered by the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman.