Which CRA Notices and Decisions Can't You Object To in Canada?

You open your CRA mail or My Account and find something you disagree with. Maybe it is a balance owing, an RRSP room figure, or a letter from an auditor. The natural next step is to file a notice of objection, but that formal dispute tool only fits certain kinds of CRA documents.

This guide helps you sort what you received. It covers what can be objected to, what cannot, the trap faced by people with losses, and the other routes that may help. It explains how things generally work across Canada under federal tax law. A lawyer or accountant can confirm what fits your situation.

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

What you can object to

The objection process is built around the CRA's formal decisions on your tax. The CRA says you can object to a notice of assessment, reassessment, determination or redetermination. An assessment is what the CRA sends after it examines a return and works out tax, interest and penalties.

The same objection and appeal rights also apply to determinations such as the Canada child benefit, the GST/HST credit, the disability tax credit and loss determinations. Penalties and interest are part of the assessment, so a notice of objection can dispute them.

A reassessment can also open new rights. A notice of reassessment issued within or after the normal reassessment period starts new objection rights over the reassessed items.

What you cannot object to

Many documents from the CRA look official but are not assessments or determinations. The CRA lists examples that cannot be objected to:

• RRSP or TFSA room statements
• Carryforward balances
• Home Buyers' Plan balances
• Refund interest
• Tax deducted at source
• OAS recovery tax
• Set-offs
• Statements of account
• Pension adjustments
• Nil assessments

You also cannot object to an auditor's proposal letter. That letter is a step in the audit, not the final assessment. If you have information the auditor has not seen, it is generally better to give it during the audit, because information held back and given only with an objection may lead the file to be sent back for a second review.

A reassessment issued under the Taxpayer Relief provisions cannot itself be objected to.

Rights you gave up in writing

You cannot object to an issue on which you waived the right of objection in writing. Section 169(2.2) also bars an appeal to the Tax Court on that issue.

If you signed something with the CRA during an audit or settlement, check what it says before you plan a dispute. A lawyer or accountant can read the wording and tell you which issues it covers.

The loss-position trap and timing problems

If you are in a loss position, you cannot object until a notice of loss determination is issued. You can request one from the tax services office or tax centre. The Minister must determine an unreported loss at your request, covering non-capital, net capital, restricted farm, farm and limited partnership losses. The assessment provisions, including objection rights, then apply to that determination.

Timing matters in both directions. Objections filed late, or before the notice was issued, may be invalid. Loss determinations have only a 90-day objection limit, even for individuals. Most individuals have until the later of one year after the filing-due date and 90 days after the notice was sent, and the 90 days run from the day the notice was sent, not the day you received it.

Other routes when objection is not available

If your real complaint is a penalty or interest charge that you think is unfair rather than wrong, relief is the likelier tool. If the charge is wrong on the facts or the law, it can be disputed through objection while the assessment is still open to one.

What to do next

• Identify exactly what you received: an assessment, reassessment, determination, statement, or letter.
• Check it against the list of items that cannot be objected to.
• Note the notice date and work out your deadline, counting from the day the notice was sent.
• If you have a loss and no loss determination, request one first.
• If objection is closed, ask whether an adjustment request or taxpayer relief request fits.
• Check whether you signed any written waiver of objection rights.
• Speak to a lawyer or accountant before the deadline if the amount or the issue is significant.

Frequently asked questions