Digest of Taxpayer Service Rights

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• About the Taxpayers' Ombudsman
  • Mandate
  • Mission
  • Vision
  • Principles
• The Taxpayer Bill of Rights
• Taxpayer Service Rights
  • Article 5 – You have the right to be treated professionally, courteously, and fairly
    • The meaning of "professional"
    • The meaning of "courteous"
    • The meaning of "fair"
    • What the CRA says in its Taxpayer Bill of Rights Guide
    • Similar Provisions in Other Jurisdictions
    • Application (Case Summaries)
  • Article 6 – You have the right to complete, accurate, clear, and timely information
    • The meaning of "complete"
    • The meaning of "accurate"
    • The meaning of "clear"
    • The meaning of "timely"
    • What the CRA says in its Taxpayer Bill of Rights Guide
    • Similar Provisions in Other Jurisdictions
    • Application (Case Summaries)
  • Article 9 - You have the right to lodge a service complaint and to be provided with an explanation of our findings.
    • The complaint procedure
    • What the CRA says in its Taxpayer Bill of Rights Guide
    • Similar Provisions in Other Jurisdictions
    • Application (Case Summaries)
  • Article 10 - You have the right to have the costs of compliance taken into account when administering tax legislation.
    • What the CRA says in its Taxpayer Bill of Rights Guide
    • Similar Provisions in Other Jurisdictions
  • Article 11 - You have the right to expect us to be accountable.
    • The meaning of "accountability"
    • What the CRA says in its Taxpayer Bill of Rights Guide
    • Similar Provisions in Other Jurisdictions
    • Application (Case Summaries)
  • Article 13 - You have the right to expect us to publish our service standards and report annually.
    • What the CRA says in its Taxpayer Bill of Rights Guide
    • Application (Case Summaries)
  • Article 14 - You have the right to expect us to warn you about questionable tax schemes in a timely manner.
    • The meaning of "questionable"
    • What the CRA says in its Taxpayer Bill of Rights Guide
    • Application (Case Summaries)
  • Article 15 - You have the right to be represented by a person of your choice.
    • What the CRA says in its Taxpayer Bill of Rights Guide
    • Similar Provisions in Other Jurisdictions
    • Application (Case Summaries)
• Commitment to Small Business

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the following people without whose contribution this Digest, and the results summarized herein, would not have been possible:

The entire team at the Office of the Taxpayers' Ombudsman

The Management and staff of the CRA's Ombudsman Liaison Office

Also, a special thanks to Justin Glinski, Student-at-Law, for his research and assistance with themes and content.

J. Paul Dubé
Taxpayers' Ombudsman

Office of the Taxpayers' Ombudsman
50 O'Connor Street, Suite 724
Ottawa, Ontario  K1P 6L2
Telephone: 613-946-2310 | Toll-free: 1-866-586-3839
Fax: 613-941-6319 | Toll-free fax: 1-866-586-3855