Taxpayers' Ombudsman Issues Report "The Right to Know"; Hope CRA Acknowledges Key Points
On November 9, 2010, the Taxpayers' Ombudsman, Paul Dube, issued a report entitled "The Right to Know" concerning the rights of taxpayers to know why they have been assessed and why their objections and appeals are being denied. Mr. Dube concluded "that when the CRA's Appeals Branch does not provide reasons for its decision on a taxpayer's appeal or objection, it fails to fulfill its commitments to fairness, openness, and accountability."
This an important document about fair treatment of taxpayers and how taxpayers are not being treated fairly in all cases by the Canada Revenue Agency, Appeals Branch.
Whether individual CRA officers will take the report to heart and change their ways in order to improve communication is yet to be seen. What is significant is that the Taxpayers' Ombudsman will be watching. Someone has spoken for the many whose voices cannot be heard (or whose concerns and complaints have been ignored).
Cyndee Todgham Cherniak is the founding lawyer of LexSage, a boutique international trade law and sales tax firm in Toronto,
