Please note that the following document, although believed to be correct at the time of issue, may not represent the current position of the CRA.
Prenez note que ce document, bien qu'exact au moment émis, peut ne pas représenter la position actuelle de l'ARC.
Principal Issues: Whether CRA can provide guidance on its use of the phrase “all documents and records relating to advice…received, decisions made…” in respect of requests for documents under section 231.1.
Position: N/A.
Reasons: N/A.
IFA 2025 Annual Conference – CRA Roundtable
Question #4 – Requests for documents under section 231.1
IFA members have noticed the use of the phrase, “all documents and records relating to advice…received, decisions made…”, has become more common by the CRA, often appearing in audit initiation letters and standard audit queries.
Would the CRA be willing to review this practice and consider providing guidance on its appropriate use for field auditors?
CRA Response
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will be releasing updates to its information gathering policies in the form of a new communique, which will be published on Canada.ca later this year. The intent of the new communique is to simplify, standardize, and clearly outline a consistent information gathering policy for all CRA audit programs.
The new communique will clarify the CRA’s policy on the use of sections 231.1 of the Income Tax Act (ITA) and 288 of the Excise Tax Act (ETA) as the primary information gathering powers used by CRA officials to request information, documents, access, and reasonable assistance. The use of requirements issued under sections 231.2 of the ITA and 289 of the ETA will generally be reserved for obtaining records held by financial institutions, information on behalf of treaty partners, and information about unnamed persons.
Taxpayers and other persons are legally obligated to comply with all information gathering powers granted to CRA officials and are also expected to have full access to the information pertaining to their obligations or entitlements under the ITA and ETA. To the extent these obligations are not met, the CRA will exercise the powers under the ITA and ETA to enforce compliance with tax laws and maintain the integrity of the tax system.
The CRA remains committed to a balanced use of the information-gathering powers through fairness, transparency, and efficiency. CRA officials should exercise judgement when carrying out their compliance activities and should generally seek the appropriate amount of information necessary to validate the conditions of application of the provisions that are relevant to a taxpayer or any other person under the ITA or the ETA.
When evaluating the need for information, it is necessary to consider the purpose and scope of the compliance activity, and the relevancy and the reasonableness of the documents and information being sought. The type and volume of information required is informed by the scope of the compliance activity and is subject to change depending on the facts and circumstances of each particular case.
CRA officials should explain in general terms within the information gathering correspondence or during meetings the compliance issue and why the documentation and information sought may be relevant in determining the obligations and entitlements of a taxpayer or any other person. Taxpayers and their representatives are encouraged to discuss information requests with CRA officials if they have any questions.
Openness, transparency, and cooperation by taxpayers and CRA officials will facilitate the efficiency and effectiveness of compliance activities, which allows CRA officials to provide taxpayers with earlier tax certainty and to reduce the compliance burden whenever possible.
Vicky Liu
2025-105258
May 28, 2025
Response prepared by:
Andrew Bowe
Audit Technical Support Division
High Net Worth Compliance Directorate
Compliance Programs Branch
Carla Tomassetti
Large Business Compliance Operations Division
International and Large Business Directorate
Compliance Programs Branch
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