Are Tax Court of Canada Judgments Public Records in Canada?

Tax disputes are personal. An appeal can involve your income, your business, your family's finances and your dealings with the CRA, so it is natural to wonder who can read about it.

Court proceedings in Canada are generally open to the public, and the Tax Court is a court. That said, the law gives tools to limit what is exposed, and some of them are your responsibility from the day you file.

This article covers Canadian federal tax law, which applies in every province.

Starting from openness

As a general idea, courts operate in public so that people can see how decisions are made. Assume that what you file, say at a hearing and what the judge decides may be accessible to others unless a specific protection applies.

An appeal starts when you file an originating document in the Registry in the general procedure. In the informal procedure the notice of appeal sets out reasons and facts in general terms. Either way, think about what you write before you file it.

Which procedure applies affects how your case is run. The informal procedure applies where the aggregate of all amounts in issue is $25,000 or less, or the loss in issue is $50,000 or less, and you elect it. It also applies where the only subject-matter of the appeal is interest assessed under the Income Tax Act, although the Attorney General may apply to move an interest-only case to the general procedure, and the Court must grant that if the interest in issue exceeds $25,000, not counting interest accruing after the notice of assessment. If the amounts in issue exceed $25,000 (or the loss exceeds $50,000), the Court orders the general procedure to apply, unless the appellant elects to limit the appeal to those amounts. Under the informal procedure, all parties may appear in person or be represented by counsel or an agent, and the Court is not bound by legal or technical rules of evidence.

Hearings held in camera

In camera means the hearing is closed to the public. A hearing may be held in camera on a party's application if the circumstances of the case justify it.

This is an exception, not an automatic choice. The Court has to be persuaded that the circumstances of your case justify it, so the reasons you give matter. Whether yours qualify depends on the facts, and a lawyer can help you assess that.

Timing matters too. The usual rule is that the Court must receive your notice of appeal within 90 days of the date on the notice of confirmation or reassessment. There are exceptions. If the Minister has not notified you of a decision, you may appeal once 90 days have passed after service of your notice of objection, and for GST/HST objections the wait is 180 days. Appeals about the value of ecological gifts have their own 90-day period, which runs from the certificate issued by the Minister of the Environment. If you miss the deadline, you may apply to the Tax Court for an extension, and the application must be made within one year after the 90-day period expires. Thinking about privacy before you file is sensible, since that is when you choose what goes into your documents.

Confidentiality orders and redaction

A confidentiality order may be sought by motion under Rule 16.1 of the General Procedure Rules.

Separately, filers must redact SINs, business numbers and full birth dates. You should do this yourself before documents go to the Court.

• Social insurance numbers: redact them.
• Business numbers: redact them.
• Full birth dates: redact them.
• Other sensitive details, such as account information or medical facts: ask a lawyer whether a confidentiality motion is worth considering.

In the general procedure, each party files and serves a list of documents within thirty days following the closing of the pleadings. A person examined for discovery must answer proper questions relevant to a matter in issue, and a party may read the adverse party's discovery evidence into its own case at the hearing. Information you give during these steps can therefore end up as part of the hearing, so it helps to identify sensitive material early.

Decisions and what they say

After an informal procedure hearing, judgment must be rendered not later than ninety days after the hearing concludes, except in exceptional circumstances. The Court gives reasons, and written reasons are required only where the Court considers it advisable.

An informal procedure judgment is not treated as a precedent for any other case. That affects how a decision is used by others in law, and it does not by itself tell you whether the decision can be read by the public.

If a decision is appealed, the Federal Court of Appeal notice must be filed within 30 days, not counting days in July and August, after the judgment. Informal procedure judgments can be appealed only on limited grounds such as lack of jurisdiction, breach of procedural fairness or an error of law.

Some appeals end by agreement. With your written consent, the Minister may at any time reassess to dispose of an appeal. What a settlement means for the public record depends on your situation, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer.

What to do next

• Before filing, decide which details the Court really needs and keep the notice of appeal factual and measured.
• Redact SINs, business numbers and full birth dates from every document you file.
• If privacy is a serious concern, ask a lawyer early about an in camera application or a Rule 16.1 motion.
• Note your deadline: usually the Court must receive your notice of appeal within 90 days of the date on the notice of confirmation or reassessment, but different timing can apply if the Minister has not decided your objection or if you need an extension.
• Keep a clean copy of anything you file, plus a redacted copy, so you know what the Court holds.
• Ask the Court Registry how to look up or obtain filings and decisions in your file, since access practices can change.

Frequently asked questions