Services of the Income Tax Rulings Directorate

The Income Tax Rulings Directorate is the centre of income tax expertise within the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA); it is responsible for issuing advance income tax rulings and technical interpretations upon which its clients can rely. The Directorate's staff is well educated, trained and experienced and capable of effectively dealing with any income tax issue that arises.

The CRA also provides rulings on the Goods and Services Tax and Advance Pricing Agreements related to international transfer pricing. For information on these services refer to GST Memoranda Series, Chapter 1, GST Information, Section 1.4, Goods and Services Tax Rulings, and Income Tax Information Circular 94-4, International Transfer Pricing: Advance Pricing Agreement (APA).

What is an Advance Income Tax Ruling?

An advance income tax ruling is a written statement given by the Directorate to a taxpayer stating how the CRA will interpret and apply specific provisions of existing Canadian income tax law to a definite transaction or transactions that the taxpayer is contemplating. Accordingly, an advance income tax ruling may be either favourable or unfavourable to the interpretation desired by the taxpayer. Where, however, an unfavourable advance income tax ruling is to be issued, the taxpayer is given the opportunity to withdraw the ruling request.

The provision of advance income tax rulings is an administrative service and there is no legal requirement to issue them.

Purpose of the Advance Income Tax Ruling Service

The purpose of the advance income tax ruling service is to promote voluntary compliance, uniformity and self-assessment by providing certainty with respect to the income tax implications of proposed transactions.

Fee

The CRA charges a fee for time spent in connection with advance income tax ruling requests, including those requests that are subsequently withdrawn.

Confidentiality

All information provided by taxpayers in the course of a request for an advance income tax ruling is confidential and is not accessible to the public, including under the Access to Information Act. However, all advance income tax rulings issued are released to the public in severed form. Under this process, all confidential information contained in the ruling is removed. The severed advance income tax rulings are then distributed to various publishers of income tax information.

Technical Interpretations

The Directorate also provides, in writing, technical interpretations of specific provisions of income tax law both to taxpayers directly, and by assisting other areas of the CRA in dealing with complex tax issues. When, however, a request for a technical interpretation relates to a specific proposed transaction, an advance income tax ruling rather than a technical interpretation must be requested. The CRA's tax services offices consider requests for written interpretations on completed transactions and provide over-the-counter advice and assistance on general matters. Technical interpretations provided to the public are not income tax rulings and are not binding on the CRA nor is a fee charged for this service.

Telephone Enquiries

The Directorate provides a telephone enquiry service for members of the public who may wish to have the Directorate's technical interpretation of a provision of income tax law that cannot be answered by a tax services office. The Directorate accepts telephone calls 24 hours per day with voice mail service outside business hours, but it does not accept collect telephone calls.

It should be noted that the telephone inquiry service is set up to respond to specific questions based on interpretative positions previously taken by the CRA and not to provide general tax information.

The Income Tax Rulings Directorate's general telephone number is (613) 957-8953.

For security reasons, a taxpayer's authorized representative should not provide information that might identify the taxpayer.

Transmissions by Fax and Email

The Directorate will receive advance income tax ruling requests and related information by fax and email, as well as requests for interpretations, if a taxpayer is prepared to accept the risk of possible loss of confidentiality involved due to the unsecure nature of email and facsimile transmissions. When requesting an advance income tax ruling by email or fax, the original documents and any other pertinent information should subsequently be submitted by traditional mail or courier.

The Income Tax Rulings Directorate's centralized email address is: itrulingsdirectorate@cra-arc.gc.ca  and the fax number is: (613) 957-2088

Written requests for advance income tax rulings or written interpretations should be mailed to:

Income Tax Rulings Directorate
Policy and Planning Branch
Canada Revenue Agency
16th floor, Tower A
Place de Ville
320 Queen Street
Ottawa ON
K1A 0L5

Interpretation Bulletins

The Directorate prepares Interpretation Bulletins (ITs), which provide the CRA's interpretation of income tax law. While they do not have the force of law, ITs can generally be relied upon to reflect the CRA,s interpretation of income tax law in force at the time of publication, to be applied on a consistent basis by its staff.

If you require personal assistance, visit the Tax Service Office closest to you (see Related Reading: Business Window - Supplement or CRA's Web site for a list of addresses).