Handling a CRA tax dispute and appeal process can be a stressful task for many small business owners and individuals in Canada. Understanding the Canadian?tax appeal ?process can help you with your rights in your disputes with the CRA. The tax system in Canada is a self reporting one. The objective of the annual tax return is to report the amount of tax you owe to the CRA accurately every year. CRA will agree or dispute after processing your tax returns. All disputes will be notified to the taxpayer through a Notice of Assessment which is sent few weeks after the filing of the tax returns.

CRA may ask for more information and audit the taxpayer concerning the tax obligations. Post audit, the CRA may agree or disagree with your justifications. In the case of disagreement, the CRA auditor will issue a Proposal Letter outlining the position of the CRA. If the taxpayer disputes the amount in the Notice of Reassessment, then he or she can `object? through a Canadian?tax appeal?to the Agency Appeals division of the CRA.

An Appeals Officer from the CRA Appeals Division will be assigned to your case. The Appeals Officer could vacate or cancel the reassessment after hearing you out or may confirm by keeping it intact or varying it. You may wish to go through with a Canadian?tax appeal ?after the decision of the Appeals Officer by approaching the Tax Court of Canada.

The Canadian?tax appeal?program is responsible for offering a consistent and timely process of review. It has been set up to offer taxpayers with an impartial review process of their tax situation. However, a considerable increase in tax planning on an aggressive basis has had an impact on the ability of the CRA to resolve the tax disputes in a timely fashion.

The Canadian?tax appeal?process involves decisions from the CRA which may be categorized into thirteen different types by the Appeals Branch. The delays in the Canadian?tax appeal?process may be attributed to an increase in the contested decisions and their volume since the past six years.

If the taxpayer feels that the Tax Court of Canada has still made an error in the judgment, he or she has a limited right in the Canadian?tax appeal process to approach the Federal Court of Appeals within a month of the decision pronounced by the Tax Court judge. Dissatisfied taxpayers can even apply ?to the Supreme Court of Canada for further appeal. It may be rather expensive and more complex than what a taxpayer thinks.

It is always safer to seek professional help when planning a Canadian?tax appeal in Toronto to make matters simpler for yourself. The Canadian?tax appeal?system has been devised to offer an elementary framework of the entire process but it also involves stringent deadlines and has few pitfalls. It is wiser on the part of a taxpayer to consult a tax accountant or a tax representative at their earliest convenience when facing a tax dispute with the CRA.