You generally have 90 days from the date on the notice of assessment or reassessment to file a notice of objection. Individuals and graduated rate estates get longer — the later of that 90 days and one year after the return's filing due date. Miss both and you need permission to be late.
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For income tax, section 165 of the Income Tax Act sets the objection period at 90 days from the day the notice of assessment or reassessment was sent. Individuals and graduated rate estates get the later of that date and one year after the filing due date for the year in question, which for an ordinary employee often means considerably more than 90 days. Corporations and trusts other than graduated rate estates get 90 days and nothing more.
GST/HST objections run under the Excise Tax Act on their own 90-day clock. So do most payroll assessments. If you have received several notices, each carries its own deadline and they do not merge.
If you are late, you can apply to the CRA for an extension of time, and that application must itself be made within one year after the objection deadline expired. You must show you were unable to act or had a bona fide intention to object, that it would be just and equitable to grant it, and that you applied as soon as circumstances permitted. If the CRA refuses, you can take the extension application to the Tax Court of Canada within 90 days of the refusal. Once the outer year has passed, the assessment is final. There is no discretion left.
An objection can be filed online through My Account or My Business Account, or on Form T400A, or by letter to the Chief of Appeals. Form is not the issue. Content is.
Set out each issue separately, state the relief you want on each, and give the facts and the reasons. Attach the documents that support you. An objection that says 'the reassessment is incorrect and I request it be vacated' is validly filed but it wastes the strongest opportunity you get to frame the dispute before anyone at Appeals forms a view.
Large corporations face a stricter statutory rule: they must describe each issue, specify the relief sought as a dollar amount, and provide the facts and reasons for each issue. Issues not properly raised at the objection stage cannot generally be raised later on appeal. This is a real trap and it is worth getting the drafting right the first time.
The objection goes to the CRA Appeals Division, which is separate from Audit. An appeals officer reviews the file afresh, will usually contact you, and may ask for further submissions or documents. This is a genuine review and a substantial number of objections are resolved wholly or partly in the taxpayer's favour without ever reaching court.
For income tax, filing an objection generally suspends CRA collection action while the dispute is live. That protection does not apply to GST/HST, to payroll source deductions, or to large corporations, which must generally pay a portion of the disputed amount notwithstanding the objection.
Interest keeps running on any amount ultimately upheld, at the prescribed rate plus four points, compounded daily. If you expect to lose in part, paying the undisputed portion — or all of it — stops that meter. Overpayments are refunded with interest at a lower rate, but the arithmetic still usually favours paying.
The CRA will confirm the assessment, vary it, or vacate it, and will send a notice of confirmation or a reassessment. From the date it does, you have 90 days to appeal to the Tax Court of Canada.
You do not have to wait indefinitely. If 90 days have passed since you filed your objection and the CRA has not responded, you may appeal to the Tax Court without waiting for a decision. That is a useful lever when a file has stalled, though it also removes the chance of settling at Appeals, where settlement is cheaper.
One thing an objection cannot do is challenge a refusal of taxpayer relief on penalties and interest. That is a discretionary decision reviewed by the Federal Court, not the Tax Court, and putting it in an objection loses time. Our tax consult is $563.87, taxes included, and includes a written memo on the merits and the deadline that applies to your notice.
Ninety days from the date the notice of assessment or reassessment was sent. Individuals and graduated rate estates get the later of that and one year after the filing due date for the year, which is often the longer of the two. Corporations get 90 days only. GST/HST assessments run on a separate 90-day clock under the Excise Tax Act. Count from the date on the notice, not the date you opened the envelope — that difference has cost people their objection rights.
Apply to the CRA for an extension of time. That application must be made within one year after the objection deadline expired, and you must show you were unable to object or genuinely intended to, that it is just and equitable to allow it, and that you applied as soon as you reasonably could. If the CRA refuses, you can ask the Tax Court of Canada within 90 days of the refusal. After the outer one-year window closes, nothing can be done — the assessment stands.
For income tax, generally no — filing an objection normally suspends collection action until the objection is decided. That protection does not extend to GST/HST or payroll source deductions, where the CRA can collect immediately, or to large corporations, which must generally pay a portion regardless. Even where you need not pay, interest continues to accrue at the prescribed rate plus four percentage points, compounded daily, on whatever is ultimately upheld.
It varies enormously with complexity — straightforward files move in months, complex or grouped files can take well over a year. You are not required to wait forever. Once 90 days have passed since you filed the objection, you may appeal directly to the Tax Court of Canada without a decision. Using that right ends the Appeals process, so weigh it against the fact that Appeals settles cases far more cheaply than litigation does.
It depends what you are objecting to. If a penalty was assessed as part of the reassessment — a gross negligence penalty, for example — you object to it in the normal way and it can be challenged in the Tax Court. If you are asking the CRA to exercise its discretion to waive penalties or interest on compassionate grounds, that is a taxpayer relief request, not an objection, and a refusal is reviewed by the Federal Court. Filing the wrong one wastes the clock.
Open your file tonight — a licensed Ontario lawyer will confirm everything with you by tomorrow.