Canadian tax authorities are reminding taxpayers of the 10-year deadline on relief requests.
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) issued an advisory Friday reminding taxpayers that the laws administered by the CRA allow for the cancellation of penalties and interest when taxpayers are unable to meet their tax obligations in certain cases. And, it can also grant relief to accept certain late, amended, or revoked, income tax elections, issue refunds, or reduce income tax that’s payable.
However, there’s a 10-year limit to these relief provisions, meaning that the CRA can only grant relief related to any tax year, or reporting period, that ended within 10 calendar years of the year the relief request is made. It can also cancel interest and certain penalties that accrued within 10 years, regardless of the year the debt originated.
So, taxpayers that are involved in an audit, objection, or appeal, related to the 2003 tax year, or a reporting period that ended in 2003, only have until the end of this year to request relief, it says.