Payment criteria

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https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/programs/about-canada-revenue-agency-cra/compliance/offshore-tax-informant-program/payment-criteria.html

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Payment criteria

If the information you provide about international tax non-compliance helps the Canada Revenue Agency to assess federal taxes owing, we will award you between 5% and 15% of the additional federal tax collected, excluding interest and penalties.

The award percentage is based on various factors, including those below.
Quality of information

Mediocre

  • Difficult to use
  • Contains many errors
  • Incomplete; contains few details
  • Not clear and organized

Good

  • Easy to use
  • May contain minor errors, but not on major issues
  • Complete on most major issues
  • Clear and fairly well organized

Excellent

  • Very easy to use
  • Accurate
  • Complete and detailed
  • Clear and well organized

Relevance of information

Somewhat relevant

Mostly relevant

Relevant

Cooperation of informant

Minimal

  • Provides basic explanations when asked
  • Provides minimal background information or appropriate context
  • Actions jeopardized or complicated CRA review

Adequate

  • Provides useful explanations when asked
  • Provides useful background information and context where necessary

Exceptional

  • Provides clear and detailed explanations when asked
  • Provides detailed background information that enhances the CRA's understanding of the tax issue

Value of information to CRA

Low

  • Does not reduce the time needed for CRA compliance action
  • Mostly from public sources or would have been easy to obtain
  • Even without it, the CRA would likely have audited this issue

Medium

  • Reduces the time needed for CRA compliance action
  • Would have been difficult to obtain
  • Even without it, the CRA may have audited this issue

High

  • Greatly reduces the time needed for CRA compliance action
  • Would have been very difficult to obtain
  • Without it, the CRA would have been unable or unlikely to audit this issue

The CRA may also consider factors such as timeliness, the informant's role in the non-compliance, and whether assets were identified that helped the Agency collect taxes.

The award levels are 5%, 7.5%, 10%, 12.5%, and 15%. See The informant award process for more information.

The OTIP's Oversight Committee reviews the award recommendations to make sure that they are fair and in keeping with the program's payment criteria.

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Date modified:
2014-01-14