A notice of appeal can be filed using one of the following methods:

• depositing the notice of appeal with the Registry of the Tax Court of Canada;
• sending the notice of appeal to the Registry by mail;
• faxing the notice of appeal to the Registry; or
• filing the notice of appeal electronically.

The notice of appeal is deemed to have been filed on the day it was received by the Registry. When it is filed in person, mailed or faxed, the registrar will put a stamp on the document. That date will be deemed to be the date of filing. If the notice of appeal is filed electronically, the date shown on the acknowledgement of receipt issued by the Court is deemed to be the date of filing.

How to Write a Notice of Appeal?

No special form is required for a notice of appeal under the Informal Procedure Rules. The notice of appeal needs only to set out, in general terms, the reasons for the appeal and the relevant facts. However, although not required, the Tax Court of Canada provides a form referred to as “Schedule 4 – Notice of Appeal (Informal Procedure)”.

The bottom of Schedule 4 requires the taxpayer to file Schedule 17(2) instead of Schedule 4 if the amount under appeal exceeds the relief that can be granted under the Informal Procedure Rules. Schedule 17(2) is similar to Schedule 4 except that, at the end of Schedule 17(2), there is an express disclaimer to ensure that you are aware that, by electing to have the appeal proceed under the Informal Procedure Rules, you forego any relief above the threshold. For instance, if the amount under appeal is $35,000 and you are successful, you can only recover $25,000 because that is the maximum limit under the Informal Procedure Rules. You should have proceeded under the General Procedure Rules if you wanted to recover the full amount of $35,000.

Some comments about what to include in the notice of appeal:

• It is a common mistake for taxpayers to complain about CRA officers’ misconduct, or how they acted improperly during the audit. Personal attacks on CRA officers can be counterproductive and cast a negative light on the person making those allegations. Further, the Tax Court of Canada’s jurisdiction is limited to determining the correctness of the reassessment(s) under appeal. The Court will generally not hear complaints of misconduct and, regardless, cannot grant any relief related to such alleged misconduct. The facts stated in the notice of appeal should be limited to what is relevant.
• It is another common mistake for taxpayers to include evidence in their notice of appeal. There is a difference between a fact and the evidence that supports that fact. The notice of appeal should limit itself to statements of fact. Further, documents that the taxpayer may want to use as evidence need not be filed with the notice of appeal. For example, in an expense case, if you want to prove that you incurred the claimed expenses, you need not file the receipts and other documents with your notice of appeal. The right time to submit evidence is at the hearing.

Whereas a taxpayer must file a notice of appeal, the Crown must respond to the notice of appeal through a document referred to as the “reply to the notice of appeal”.

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Last updated: October 4, 2018