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Tax Disputes

We frequently represent taxpayers in disputes with CRA, formerly Revenue Canada, Taxation. Typically, taxpayers are subjected to an audit, which often concludes with an audit proposal. If the taxpayer rejects the proposal, a Re-assessment will be issued. Taxpayers have 90 days to file a Notice of Objection, which moves the file to an internal appeal at CRA. If still dissatisfied with the result of that Appeal, the taxpayer has another 90 days to appeal to the Tax Court of Canada, which hears appeals in the "Informal" Procedure, if the tax is under $12,000, or more formally in the General Procedure if the tax in dispute is greater than $12,000. The time limits are critically important.

We can ensure that taxpayer's rights are properly protected at every stage by ensuring the audit is properly conducted, in preparing submissions and making representations at the Appeals stage, and by conducting Appeals at the Tax Court of Canada, and Federal Court of Appeal.

Laurie Armstrong is one of a very few lawyers in Victoria familiar with the Federal Tax and Court systems, and has successfully represented taxpayers at all levels, often with dramatic reductions in the amount of tax initially assessed.

Interested viewers may link to the Dale decisions as an example, where Corporate rollovers, a tax planning tool, were positively impacted, and where, in the Federal Court of Appeal, the concept of "Rectification Orders" was accepted, a tool now used by Tax lawyers across Canada. Mr. Dale prevailed over Revenue Canada in every Court; The Provincial Court of BC; The Supreme Court of PEI; The Tax Court of Canada and The Federal Court of Appeal. Another action in the Federal Court of Canada was settled. The "hundreds of thousands of dollars" in tax the government claimed he owed, was completely eliminated, and Mr. Dale eventually received a small refund.

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