What the Tax Court of Canada does
The Tax Court hears appeals from CRA assessments and determinations — income tax, GST/HST, and related regimes (CPP/EI rulings among them) — after the mandatory first step of a notice of objection to the CRA itself (filed within 90 days of the assessment, with limited extension windows). Once the CRA confirms or fails to respond, the Court takes over — the informal procedure for smaller amounts (a streamlined, evidence-relaxed track where taxpayers routinely appear without counsel and agents may assist) and the general procedure for larger disputes, with full civil-litigation machinery. The Court decides the tax merits — it can vacate or vary assessments — while what it does not do matters equally — CRA collection conduct, relief requests for penalties and interest, and fairness complaints run through other channels (taxpayer relief applications and Federal Court judicial review). Appeals from the Tax Court go to the Federal Court of Appeal.
What it hears
- Income tax appeals against CRA assessments and reassessments
- GST/HST appeals
- CPP and EI rulings appeals — employee-versus-contractor disputes above all
- Informal-procedure appeals for smaller amounts, with relaxed evidence rules
- General-procedure appeals for larger disputes, with discovery and full process
Before your first court date
Sequence is everything. First, the notice of objection — filed with the CRA within 90 days of the assessment date (an extension application is possible within the year after, on conditions). Gather the documentary record now — the reassessment, the auditor's working papers where available, and every receipt and contract behind the disputed numbers. When the objection is confirmed or unanswered after the statutory period, the appeal to the Tax Court runs on its own 90-day clock. Meanwhile know the collection rules — for most income-tax debts, CRA collection is generally paused while an objection or appeal is active, but interest keeps accruing, and GST/HST debts follow harder rules.
What happens at your first appearance
Informal-procedure hearings are the Court at its most human — a judge, a CRA counsel, you and your documents, relaxed evidence rules, hearings scheduled in centres across the country, and decisions delivered promptly. General-procedure matters run like superior-court litigation — pleadings, discovery, status conferences, formal trial. Either way the Crown is represented by specialist counsel — preparation and a clean documentary story are what level the field. Settlement is live throughout — many appeals resolve through CRA counsel on principled numbers before hearing.
What to prepare
- The notice of assessment or reassessment under dispute, and the objection record
- Every document behind the numbers — receipts, invoices, contracts, bank records
- A clear reconciliation — what the CRA says, what you say, and why, line by line
- The clocks — 90 days to object, 90 days to appeal, extensions on strict conditions
- For informal procedure — your own presentation; for general — pleadings to the rules
When to get legal advice
This page is general legal information, not legal advice. Tax disputes reward early professional eyes — on whether the fight is factual (receipts and records) or legal (interpretation), on the procedure election, and on settlement value against interest running. Legal Hotline's free line explains the objection-and-appeal ladder any hour on 1-855-529-1555 — and a one-hour consultation with a Canadian lawyer (C$295, the total, nothing added) can be booked right on the call.
Where it is
The Tax Court is a national court headquartered in Ottawa, holding hearings in major centres across Canada — Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and beyond — with the informal procedure deliberately scheduled to be reachable. Your notice of hearing names the city and facility.
Frequently asked questions
I disagree with my reassessment. Do I go straight to the Tax Court?
No — the objection comes first, filed with the CRA within 90 days of the assessment date, and it is mandatory. Many disputes end there — Appeals officers vary reassessments regularly on decent records. Only when the objection is confirmed, varied unsatisfactorily, or left unanswered past the statutory period does the Tax Court appeal open, on its own 90-day clock. Skipping the sequence, or missing the first clock, is the classic self-inflicted loss.
Do I need a lawyer to fight the CRA?
Not necessarily, in the informal procedure — it is built for self-represented taxpayers, evidence rules are relaxed, and accountants or agents can assist. Larger, general-procedure disputes are real litigation where counsel earns its keep. The honest middle path for most people is an hour of advice at the objection stage — on the merits, the record and the procedure election — which is exactly the C$295 consultation's shape.
Does the CRA keep collecting while I dispute?
For most personal income-tax debts, active collection is generally restricted while an objection or Tax Court appeal is in play — though interest compounds throughout, and amounts like GST/HST and source deductions follow harsher rules where collection can continue. Requirements to pay and liens already in place have their own logic. If collection pressure is the burning issue, say so early — the strategy changes.
What about penalties and interest — can the Tax Court remove them?
It can strike penalties that fail on the merits (gross-negligence penalties are litigated and lost by the Crown regularly), but discretionary relief from interest and penalties on fairness grounds — illness, CRA delay, disaster — runs through the taxpayer relief process to the CRA, reviewable in Federal Court, not the Tax Court. Many good outcomes braid the two — merits fought in Tax Court, relief sought administratively.