After you serve your notice of objection, objecting to all or part of the reassessment made against you, your file is referred to a different officer working in the Appeals Division (the “appeals officer”). This officer will take a fresh look at your file. He will have access to the audit report, the correspondences between you and the auditor, and the information contained in the Canada Revenue Agency’s database. Looking at the file in its entirety, he will decide whether or not he agrees with the reassessment made by the auditor and may:
- vary the reassessment, meaning that he will change part of the reassessment. For example, if the auditor reassessed you and disallowed $20,000 of business expenses, the appeals officer may vary the reassessment to allow an additional $5,000 to be deducted. While $5,000 of business expenses have been allowed, $15,000 of business expenses remain disallowed and thus the appeals officer will confirm part of the reassessment;
- vacate the reassessment; or
- confirm the reassessment (in its entirety).
The appeals process generally ends with the appeals officer reassessing you and/or issuing a notice of confirmation stating the issues that remain in dispute. This ends the administrative process. Either you accept the CRA’s decision and pay the amount you owe or, alternatively, you can appeal to the Tax Court of Canada.
NEXT – TAX APPEAL
Last updated: November 3, 2018
